Delicate
by InsertEpicPenNameHere
Summary: For life was a very delicate thing as were bonds. But when treated carefully they could blossom into something beautiful. SasuSaku. Rated T for possible violence and language in future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Delicate**

**Dedicated to Helen (penname: eifi) for being the most amazing friend ever. Also she writes the most amazing fics ever so I suggest you read them!**

**Disclaimer: The law stole my Sasu-chan away from me!**

Sakura. She was annoying. She shouldn't have become a kunoichi. She wasn't supposed to be strong, she was meant to be protected. She was a delicate flower, so easy to injure. So breakable. Sasuke vaguely wondered if she knew just how breakable she was. Or at least how breakable she had been. He didn't know who she was now. Those kinds of thoughts plagued his mind frequently. Had she killed yet? Was she still so emotional? Did she still remember him? Did she still love him? The latter was possibly the most unsettling thought in his treacherous mind. He was pretty sure that she didn't; that she had moved on. That would have been the best for her. There was no use chasing after him, one who neither desired nor needed her affection. So why did he feel a foreign pang in his chest when he thought about it? It was most disturbing.

He had heard that she had surpassed the Godaime. That had made him scowl. The fact that she was an active ninja annoyed him. She was meant to be an innocent, lovesick _**girl**_ – not a sharp, strong _**woman**_. She wasn't meant to fight, she was meant to be protected. The thought of a bruised, scarred Sakura irritated him to now end. Unconsciously he crushed a petal in the palm of his hand. He didn't want her to be tainted with the things shinobi do. He didn't know why but the thought of a Sakura that just killed for her Kage without question frustrated him. Sakura was warm, bubbly and compassionate not a heartless killer. He didn't want her to change. Ever. This was wrong. he shouldn't be thinking like that. He had no right. He cut off ties to Konoha long ago and Sakura shouldn't mean anything to him. She never did, right? But try as he might he couldn't completely forget Team 7.

Team 7. They would protect Sakura. They were good for her. Especially Naruto. The dobe would never hurt Sakura. And he was competent (as Sasuke grudgingly admitted), he was strong enough to protect her. Kakashi wouldn't let any harm come to her either so she would be fine. As long as Kakashi and Naruto were there, he needn't worry. Actually he shouldn't be worried at all. After all what was she? Just another pathetic fawning fan girl. Even Sasuke knew that this was not the case but he couldn't dwell on such disconcerting ideas. They could potentially get in the way of his revenge.

He wondered how the rest of Team 7 was doing. Naruto had probably gotten so much stronger. It would be interesting to spar with him. He thought of the blonde's passionate, determined nature and heart warming personality behind the immaturity that defined him as Naruto. If Sasuke was honest with himself he still regarded Naruto as a friend. A good friend at that. Sasuke frowned. He had no need for friendly rivalry as pleasant as it had been. He pondered on whether Naruto still remembered him. He probably did. Naruto was intent on chasing him down to the ends of the earth and dragging him back to Konoha. Sakura would follow him to hell if worst came to worst. What had he done to deserve such undying devotion? Kakashi had done his best to guide him, to lead him away from the path of vengeance, but had failed. Now he was more mature he no longer seethed at Kakashi's advice but appreciated the effort. It wasn't Kakashi's fault that he was fixated on revenge. After his time at Oto he realised the importance of people caring about him. He didn't deserve it he knew but it gave him a good feeling. It would be nice to have someone counselling him now. The last time he had met Team 7, Kakashi wasn't there. In his stead were Yamato and Sai.

Sai. Sasuke's _replacement. _He didn't like the idea of being replaced, not at all. And who was Sai to talk about bonds? Sasuke knew perfectly well about bonds and that's why he had to break them! He couldn't afford to get attached, at least not now. He wondered if Naruto and Sakura treated Sai like they used to treat him. Did Sakura fawn over Sai now? He doubted it. That fact, for an unknown reason, made him feel a little warmer. Naruto and Sai must be at each other's throats. He smirked a little at that.

Although he would never admit (even to himself), deep down he cared for Team 7. He wished he could live with them, live like them and protect them. But he was an avenger. He needed justice for his clan. The path he walked was a dark one and one he walked alone. He would not drag Team 7 down into the darkness with him. He owed them that much. It was really the only thing he could protect them from.

The raven haired man did not know how long he sat in the sakura tree, entertaining his bittersweet contemplations. Spring brought out all the beauty in the tree, not that Sasuke dwelled on that. There It was tranquil there, a small retreat from the world. In all honesty he had only climbed up there to escape the incessant bickering of Karin and Suigetsu. At the thought of Hebi his eyes narrowed. All of them had been selected for their abilities nothing more. Sometimes he wondered if even their abilities were worth putting up with them. Juugo was the only one Sasuke could tolerate mainly because he was naturally of a quiet disposition. Karin and Suigetsu, on the other hand, were loud and chatty which, in Sasuke's opinion, amounted to them being unbearable. Add the fact that they were constantly squabbling with each other, well, was it any wonder that Sasuke spent more time up in trees than with his companions? Unfortunately they were required, which was really the only thing preventing him from killing them.

"… They said they had a pink haired woman inquiring after men in black cloaks with red clouds…"

"Don't be stupid Suigetsu, she's not going to be of any help,"

Pink haired woman? He frowned.

"Maybe we should tell Sasuke, she had a Konoha headband…"

"Pah! What could any Konoha nin find out that we couldn't! We've been searching for months and there's been no fresh info of any Akatsuki"

Konoha? Pink hair? That could only mean one person. Sakura. He scowled.

"Maybe that's because a certain member is incompetent!"

"Are you saying my abilities are not up to scratch, Suigetsu?"

"Yes!"

"Well at least I do something other than carry a gigantic sword around!"

"You wanna repeat that Karin?"

"Yeah, I do!"

It was clear that any useful conversation had ended there. Sasuke leapt off the branch.

"Karin, Suigetsu stop fighting, it's annoying." Sasuke said. Upon the appearance of their leader the pair immediately sobered. "What were you saying about the pink haired woman?"

"Well in the village nearby, where I and Karin went to replenish supplies, I stopped by at the local clinic to fix up my injuries from the last pointless mission we did," Suigetsu narrated. "All the nurses were going on about some pink haired chick from Konoha who had healed all their patients a day ago in exchange for answers to some questions. There were also a lot of murmurings like 'just like Tsunade'"

"What were the questions?" Sasuke asked emotionlessly (but inside he was curious).

"Something along the lines of 'have you ever seen men in black cloaks with red clouds here as patients' and then she took off with the med file of someone with the aforementioned cloak and red eyes. Oh yeah her name was Sakura. Apparently (although some people are pretty sure they imagined it) she murmured 'finding and taking him down should be easy now'"

At this Sasuke scowled. What game was Sakura playing? Was she trying to find the Akatsuki? Why the hell did she take Itachi's medical file? One that must be severely outdated and lacking in information (heck how can you get any information from one medical encounter?) at that? Did she have any information? What had she meant when she said 'taking him down should be easy now'? Was she trying to kill Itachi? Was it her mission? No the Godaime wouldn't assign such missions to Sakura. She was too weak. Or maybe not. But the fact remained she was _Sakura. _The Sakura he knew did not go asking after the Akatsuki.

"Yo, Sasuke, you okay?" Suigetsu asked. It was not unlike Sasuke to scowl at information but to still be scowling after a few minutes was slightly unusual.

"We need to find the pink haired woman." Sasuke said at last. He had figured that to be the best course of action. Suigetsu shot a look towards Karin as if to say 'I told you so'. Karin glared in response.

The plan was simple. He just had to confront Sakura, get her to divulge all she knew (which wouldn't be too difficult) and then go on his way. Or maybe, if her skills satisfied him, she could join Hebi as his medic nin. Karin's chakra was not efficient enough; it drained Karin just to heal simple wounds. The more he thought about it, the more appealing the plan became. After all he needed someone to heal his wounds after his battle with Itachi. And there was also the offhand chance that Sakura actually knew something _valuable_ about Itachi such as his weaknesses or whatnot. Yes. He would find Sakura and quickly.

**A/N: Yippee! I'm trying a multichaptered fic! I'm not making promises on updating regularity but I'll try my best. Also please note that Sasuke isn't always thinking about Sakura or anything like that – it just happened that he was sitting in a cherry blossom tree and one thought leads to another if you get what I mean…**


	2. Chapter 2

The pink haired kunoichi sighed heavily out of exhaustion. She really shouldn't have healed _everyone _at that clinic for _free _which meant she had to do another mission just for her income. She was pretty sure that she could have gotten the information needed just by healing a few. Damn her compassion. It was going to be the death of her someday.

She took a sip of her tea. It was Ino's birthday today. She wondered how they were celebrating back in Konoha. Team Asuma must have done a barbeque for lunch with Ino teasingly chastising Chouji for eating too much. Asuma would be smoking, Shikamaru would be sighing 'how troublesome' and Ino would be mock-hurt until the team wowed her with their presents. They would be grinning and laughing whilst they reminisced the old times. Then when evening came the rest of Konoha 12 and their original senseis would throw a proper party. Kakashi and Gai would be having a contest of some sort (probably drinking) and Ino would flirt with every male in the room. Sakura smiled a little. The two ones missing would be her and Sasuke (the latter had missed every single birthday for the past six years anyway). She had sent a present via a slug as she had done for all the birthdays in the past nine months. She wondered if Ino would like it.

It had been decided that Jiraiya was now far too old for information gathering. So the task had to fall to one of the many talented shinobi of the new generation. As Sakura couldn't bear any of her friends risking their lives, she decided to risk hers.

_Flashback_

"_Jiraiya is now far too old to gather information about the Akatsuki," Tsunade was saying. "Yet we cannot leave the Akatsuki unwatched. We need someone who is talented at reconnaissance and is strong enough to survive on their own to take his place."_

_The blonde Hokage pored through a list of names of shinobi. At her side was Shizune._

"_Hmm… Naruto's definitely ruled out already… Nara Shikamaru is needed in the village we can't risk our best tactician… Aburame Shino maybe… recon is his strong point but can he sustain himself over an extended period of time without being under the protection of a village? Hyuuga Neji… that kid has definite possibilities…"_

_Somewhere in the middle of this, a flustered and breathless Sakura walked in._

_Tsunade's eyes narrowed._

"_I can take the old hermit's place, Hokage sama!" Sakura breathed out, determination in her wide jade orbs. She wouldn't let any of her friends do the job. She didn't want to watch someone say goodbye even if they would come back. It was really her only true fear to this day. The fear of someone leaving her._

_The Godaime contemplated it for a moment. Come to think of it Sakura was capable. Very capable. She would definitely be able to hold her own in the world. And she was (despite all her talent) relatively unknown apart from her medical abilities. She wouldn't attract a lot of suspicion. People would assume she was merely travelling or looking for herbs. Konoha would miss her for sure but she was perfect for this._

"_This means you will be away from Konoha for sometimes years at a time, will you be able to handle it?"_

"_Hai!"_

_Tsunade cracked a smile then. There was no doubt about it; Haruno Sakura was to be the next information gatherer about Akatsuki. "Fine, here is your mission brief."_

_She handed Sakura a small scroll._

_End Flashback_

So many months had passed since then. She had devised a perfect strategy to gain information. Missions for various contractors were performed at reduced rates or (if budget allowed it) for free in exchange for any sort of information on the Akatsuki or old records. It had made her fairly popular with most employers since she didn't request much money. Not everything people told her was completely relevant but humanised Akatsuki members just by that little bit. For example at a bar Kisame once frequented she learnt that the nuke nin adored sake. Deidara, apparently, made a clay kitten (non explosive) for a little girl. The deceased Sasori of the Red Sands created a puppet for an orphan boy. Those kinds of stories made her smile slightly. It was fairly clear that not all of them were as bad as she thought.

And then there was Uchiha Itachi. Who wasn't actually one of the 'bad guys' in the first place. Before leaving Konoha, she decided to find out as much about him as she possibly could. She had figured out the truth about the massacre through the irregularities in mission records, irregularities in the story Itachi told and just general irregularities. For instance the number of missions Itachi completed on his card was one higher than the missions assigned to him on the records. Interested, Sakura took the liberty to view the most secret files (hey it said in her mission brief that she could use whatever resources available in Konoha) and discovered the whole truth. The story had irked her and moved her. To have to kill one's own kin for the sake of Konoha – that was something she couldn't even begin to understand. To willingly become a missing nin, to tell the one person he loved more than anything in the world (his little brother) to train to kill him – it was a pain she couldn't comprehend. So she didn't try. But she could help him.

There was a reason why she was frequenting little clinics in the middle of nowhere that no one had ever heard of (aside from the fact that she enjoyed saving lives). It was to collect all the medical files on Itachi she possibly could. She knew he was terminally ill but maybe she could cure him. But she needed to know exactly what drugs he had been taking throughout the years and his current condition. If she could cure him then there would be no need to rush his fight with Sasuke. That would mean he could make a good informant (if he was willing) for a few years before facing off with his little brother. There was even a possibility she could acquire information on the all too mysterious 'Tobi' character.

With the final medical file she needed to draw up a rough picture of his condition in her hand, she smiled. Now all she needed to do was somehow attract his attention. Such a plan could be pondered on after a good night's sleep. So she finished drinking her tea and made her way up to her room at the inn.

-------------

Sasuke was officially in a bad mood. He had expected finding Sakura to be easy (how hard can it be to find someone with _pink _hair?) but evidently not. The problem was that he had absolutely no idea about what she was like or what she was doing after all these years. It had been two days since Hebi had been actively searching for her yet so far it showed no yield. It would have helped if Karin knew what kind of chakra Sakura had and then she could use her sensing abilities but the fact is she didn't. It was like being on a wild goose chase. Whilst they were gliding through the trees Suigetsu started a conversation.

"Oy, Sasuke wasn't Haruno your team mate or something? Don't ya have anything on her and what the hell she might be doing?" Suigetsu asked; a little tired of running after someone he didn't even know. He knew that she was Sasuke's team mate from the night before.

_Flashback_

"_Sasuke-kun, even if we find her, how do you know she'll help us?" Karin asked slightly jealous of Sasuke's fixation on finding this one kunoichi._

"_She was in my genin team in Konoha. She was infatuated with me at that time," Sasuke answered blandly. He was certain that once they met again, even if Sakura had moved on, she would fall in love all over. After all, who wouldn't? He was an _Uchiha.

_A simple 'Oh' was all Karin said in response to that. Inside she was fuming that someone else loved _her _Sasuke-kun! And _her _Sasuke-kun wanted to find this someone. But oh well, he left Konoha behind didn't he? And he specially selected _her _to join Team Hebi, not the pink haired woman. _

_Suigetsu snickered a little at Karin's expression. It was evident that she was jealous. "What's her full name?" _

"_Haruno Sakura," Sasuke replied._

"_You sure? She the Bingo Book one?"_

_In that moment about a million expressions passed over Sasuke's face. Sakura? Bingo Book? Suigetsu must be an idiot to think that. It was impossible. But still… it couldn't hurt to check, could it?_

"_Show me the page in the Bingo Book," he ordered. He looked at the photograph. No doubt about it, it was Sakura. He read what it said about her. _

'_Has surpassed her teacher (Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage) when it comes to medical abilities. Is very efficient in completing all sorts of missions. Currently away from Konoha and doing missions for various contractors for unknown reasons._

_Known Affiliation: Konoha_

_Rank: S'_

_After staring at the page for a good few minutes, Sasuke finally nodded at Suigetsu. "That's her,"_

_Sasuke was beyond shocked. He would have never expected _Sakura _of all people to be in the Bingo book._

"_Wow, Sasuke you were on a team with this chick? She's super strong not to mention HOT,"_

_Sasuke growled. To be honest he didn't like the idea of other people calling Sakura 'hot'. _

"_Sheesh Sasuke, no need to get possessive," Suigetsu snickered. In all honesty he was just doing this to irritate Karin but he supposed getting a rise out of Sasuke was an added bonus. Sasuke chose not to dignify that comment with an answer._

"_Suigetsu baka, stop harassing Sasuke-kun!" cried Karin. If Karin was slightly angry before now she was livid. In her mind it was apparent that she had tough competition in the fight for Sasuke-kun's heart._

_Suigetsu was just about to retort to the 'baka' comment but Juugo interrupted in calm tone. "Karin, Suigetsu why can't you two just coexist peacefully?" _

_End Flashback_

"No, I don't." Sasuke answered curtly. It seemed a millennium had passed since they were genin. The Sakura he knew and disliked was totally different from the current Sakura. "I haven't seen her for years now,"

"Sasuke-kun, maybe we should just forget about her and focus on Itachi," Karin suggested.

At this Sasuke turned around and glared at her. There was no way in hell he was letting Sakura go now. She would make an excellent addition to Hebi. And she had information on Itachi. Whatever kind of information she had, Sasuke wanted it.

"Hn, we should split up." Sasuke said. "We will be able to cover more area that way."

"Hai, hai Sasuke-kun!" Karin wholeheartedly agreed. _'Maybe we'll split up in pairs and then me and Sasuke-kun will be alone together'_

"We will all go in different directions then in three days we'll meet back here at the same spot. If you find her, bring her back with you." Sasuke instructed.

'_No we're not going in pairs' _Karin thought, slightly disheartened. '_Maybe I will be the one to find the one trying to steal my Sasuke-kun away from me and give her a warning. Yes! I will find her.'_

"Hai!" The rest of the team chorused.

----------

Blink. Slowly Sakura awoke. Yawning, she got up out of the warm, comfy bed. It was time to send off her monthly report to Tsunade and work on a plan to attract solely Uchiha Itachi's attention that didn't involve her going up in combat against him ('easier said than done' would be understating her dilemma) then go mission hunting. It was on days like this where she wished she just stayed in bed and never got up. Unfortunately that was not possible due to her obligations. She gave a soft sigh.

She quickly showered and put some fresh clothes on.

Hastily, she scrawled out her report. There was little to write anyway. This month had been a fairly uninteresting one. The Akatsuki appeared to be laying low for the time being.

_There has been little fresh news. Hidan and Kakuzu have been rumoured to be lurking around in Lightning Country (maybe for the hachibi?) and Deidara is apparently in Tea Country. I don't know of their plans. Civil unrest in Amegakure._

_---Sakura_

She summoned a slug to deliver it. Well that was one job for the day done. Perhaps she should scout for missions now since she hardly had enough money to purchase nutrition at the moment. Then in the evening she could devote time to figuring out Itachi's illness and how to treat it. Hunting for Itachi whilst being clueless would not be a good idea. Now with her whole day planned out she exited the inn.

**A/N: Yes! I managed to write 2174 words (please bear with me on chapter lengths; I'm really sorry they're short but I am trying to make them longer.) THANK YOU TO ALL THAT REVIEWED THE LAST CHAPTER! This is not going to be ItaSaku or ItaSakuSasu but Itachi will be in it. Writing this chapter was kind of difficult. I don't think it flowed well at all… Reviews (good or bad) are welcome****! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to qawashere for reviewing both chapters :) You get ice cream, cookies and a hug. **

Sakura frowned in concentration. She had spent all of last night figuring out exactly what Itachi's condition was and how to treat it. Now she was hanging around River Country, Itachi and Kisame were reported to be in that area, trying to find difficult, dangerous missions to attract their attention.

But to her frustration, there weren't many to begin with. There were indeed a lot of shady contractors that had jobs for her to do but they involved doing things that she as a Konoha nin couldn't do unless she wanted to start a war between countries. If only she was a missing nin then she could practically take on any mission there was.

She had once completed a mission that had entailed battling Cloud nin but that was a rather discreet thing and she had made sure there was no evidence of her involvement. The thing was now she had to draw attention to herself somehow without offending any of the Great Shinobi Nations or attracting someone who wanted to take her down (she had recently learnt that she had hit the Bingo Book). It was a delicate thing indeed.

Her best bet was hunting down dangerous missing nin and taking them down but unfortunately the most dangerous ones were well practiced in the art of eluding people (they wouldn't still be alive if they weren't). Plus, to her great disappointment, they didn't seem to lurk around in the River Country. And she didn't have the time to scavenge around for information on random missing nin if she were to keep up to date with the Akatsuki.

Missing nin. That reminded her of Sasuke. She vaguely wondered how he was doing after all these years. The last time they had met, he was perfectly willing to kill them all. That had stung. It also irritated her that Yamato got in the way before she could try give Sasuke a well deserved chakra-filled punch (although inwardly she knew she probably would have felt the force of his Chidori Nagashi).

Since then Konoha had learnt of him killing Orochimaru and forming team Hebi. Who were his team mates now? Oh yeah, Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo. She didn't know much about them except for their names. Team Hebi had only one purpose. Find and kill Itachi. Tch. As can be expected of a revenge obsessed bastard.

It had wounded both Sakura's and Naruto's pride that he had chose these people instead of them. Obviously they were too _weak _for him. Well look at her now, she had surpassed her shishou and had got a spot in the Bingo book. Naruto was well known in all the shinobi nations (also with a place in the Bingo book) and was a candidate for the next Hokage when Tsunade decided to retire. She wondered if Sasuke would be proud to call them his ex team mates now.

To be honest she didn't exactly know what her feelings for Sasuke were anymore. It wasn't the same girly undying love it had been in their genin days, for sure. There was some sort of bitter anger and yet at the same time the desire to help the troubled boy. She didn't really think about him that much anymore. At some point in her life she had realised that she had to grow up and stop dwelling on Sasuke. So she had forced him to the back of her mind and focused completely on work. Heck, she didn't even dream about him anymore. She had fully moved on. She had dated Neji for a short while too but then they had both decided they would be better off as just friends.

Still, at times she did wonder what Sasuke did. She supposed she was justified; after all they were both chasing the same person for different reasons. Did they have any more success in tracking Itachi than she did? She doubted it. It was hard for her to find out even what country he was in, let alone finding him. Oh wait, Itachi would _let _Sasuke find him. Damn. It really wouldn't work out if Sasuke found Itachi before her. Why? Three reasons:

Firstly she wanted to show off her medical abilities and work on a challenging case. Secondly she felt some sort of admiration towards Itachi, he who sacrificed so much for his village, and wanted to ease his pain, if just a little (plus she really did want to meet him in a non-combat situation). Thirdly he would make an _excellent_ informant and would reduce the amount of things she had to do just for information.

She flicked through the bingo book in her hand idly. Some faces she recognised. Such as hers, for example. But surely there was a fairly talented person on the world that most people wanted dead (apart from Sasuke of course, whatever her feelings were she didn't want to kill him). She stopped as she came across a promising looking page.

'_Kajiura Takahashi_

_Ex Cloud nin. Is an expert at genjutsu which is supported by his kekkei genkai (activated by the sound of his voice and makes the victim feel hazy). This often allows him to avoid engaging in direct combat. He left Cloud because he felt like he was being controlled and manipulated and he wanted to be free. Since then he had collaborated with Sound for a while but after the death of Orochimaru he has been a drifter. He has assassinated a daimyo and many other influential people. He has taken to lurking around in the River Country and doing odd jobs for income. Although his genjutsu abilities are now extremely feared whilst in Cloud he was mainly famed for taijutsu. It is suspected that he held back the true extent of his abilities in Cloud._

_Known Affiliations: None _

_Rank: S' _

She gazed at his photograph for a while. Missing nin or not, he was pretty gorgeous. Ino would swoon if she ever saw him. He had very shadowy velvety brown hair (like the colour of dark chocolate) that was in casual disarray and serene looking dark purple eyes that one would want to drown in. His snow-white skin had a very smooth quality to it and it seemed to be completely unblemished. There was a rather peaceful look to him, a tranquil poker face that showed some hint of arrogance.

If she could defeat him he would be perfect for drawing attention to her. If. And he was so conveniently lurking in River that, hopefully, it wouldn't be very hard to find him.

But he sounded like a rather formidable adversary. The Kajiuras were really one of the Cloud's best clans after all. On the other hand she always was good at detecting genjutsu and releasing it. Even Yuuhi Kurenai's best couldn't get past her. But his kekkei genkai… could he really make his opponent hazy just by using his voice? If she couldn't think straight she was certain she wouldn't be able break out of a genjutsu. And he was famed for his taijutsu as well. Her taijutsu was mostly based on sheer strength, but after some training from Lee it was at the very least passable she hoped. But it wouldn't even come down to a proper battle if she couldn't combat his kekkei genkai somehow. Since it was a kind of jutsu that used his voice maybe if she damaged his larynx badly enough it wouldn't work. But that would require her to actually be able to attack him.

She was sure there must be a way to beat him. Now she would just track him down and lay low for a while until she had created a halfway decent strategy. Dear god, Shikamaru would be useful right now.

* * *

Scowl. Sasuke had sent a snake summons to inform the rest of Hebi that he was heading on to River and they should follow him there. Why River? Because he found a stray strand of pink hair in a village very near the border. In the inn room he was staying in, in fact. A little voice in his head told him how pathetic it was, to be chasing after his weak fan girl. Indeed it would be if she was still his weak fan girl. But now she was a strong kunoichi (with information on _Itachi_) to respect, he supposed. So it wasn't pathetic. It was, in the long run, productive. She was perfect for Hebi.

She had better still be entirely devoted to him. It would make life so much easier if she was willing to run off with him like she had been five years ago. It didn't matter that much though. If she would not join Hebi willingly, he would take her by force.

That was when he did find her though.

* * *

Sighing, Sakura stood up. It was time to put her plan in action. She would send out a clone with a sizeable amount of chakra to test the strength of his kekkei genkai first while she waited around five miles away. Then once the clone had been dispelled and she had the memory of its experience she could devise a proper line of attack.

Quickly she formed the hand seals for the Bunshin jutsu. It struck her that once Kajiura Takahashi realised it was a clone he'd be made aware of the fact that someone was going after him and he'd probably go after them to eliminate the threat. Therefore it was important that she changed the appearance of her bunshin as much as possible. So she whipped out the hair dye and contacts that she always kept close (henge couldn't fool anyone who was reasonably good) and applied them to the bunshin.

She now examined it. The woman in front of her now had light brown hair and bright blue eyes. It was a pity she couldn't change the eye shape, but a little make up should make them look significantly different. Its hair being worn in the same style as hers wouldn't do either. So she curled it and tied it into a messy ponytail. By adding a little more make up her work was done. Some would say she was being paranoid but the trained eye could see the smallest similarities so Sakura liked to be overly cautious.

Sakura stepped back and admired her handiwork. There was hardly anything similar about her and the woman in front of her.

The woman spoke "Aren't I a genius? I woulda made Ino proud with my make up applying skills," before jumping out the window and into the rain.

* * *

Itachi walked through the door of the inn. He politely requested two rooms for one night in his smooth velvety voice then sat at a table while he waited for Kisame (who just had to lay off some hunter nin).

He slipped off his soaking wet Akatsuki cloak, leaving him in his deep blue top, showing off his skinny yet muscular arms. His long silky hair was drenched as well and there was water rolling off his face (yep he had been caught in a downpour). May I add at this point that Uchiha Itachi had a face carved by an angel. And currently he was looking more like a god than anyone had a right to.

All the women giggled, swooned and pointed. Itachi sighed. He was a man of a taciturn disposition who despised attention of any sort.

Just at the moment where Itachi thought he couldn't take anymore Kisame walked in. Itachi nodded to indicate his presence. Kisame walked over to his table.

"So ya already got rooms for us?"

"Yes,"

"Jesus Christ what is with the chicks? They're looking at you like they wanna eat you," Kisame was always just a tad bit jealous of the female gender's attention to Itachi.

"…"

"D'ya have a secret lover in Konoha or something that you're 100% loyal to cause' I've never seen ya look twice at a girl?"

"…"

"Or are you just completely asexual?" he asked with a grin. "Oh, oh maybe you've decided to bat for the other team! Oh please don't tell me you have a thing for me."

"My sexuality is none of your concern." Itachi said this in a perfectly calm monotone.

"As long as you don't have a thing for me then I guess you're right,"

"…"

"Anyway what does Leader want us to hang round in River for, bro?"

"We have a mission."

"No duh. But what kind?"

"We must eliminate Kajiura Takahashi."

And with that the young man slipped away and made his way to his room for the night.

Kisame ordered sake at the bar. How he yearned to have a drinking partner. Tch. Itachi had no sense of fun at all.

* * *

Sasuke wandered in the freezing rain. Hopefully he would approach a town soon. A brunette woman raced past him.

Said brown haired woman was actually Sakura's clone who was doing her best to suppress any sign of recognition on her part.

Sasuke examined her rather quickly. It was obvious that the woman had only been out in the rain for about 10 minutes and from a rather warm place. Which meant that there was some shelter nearby.

"Oy, you," he called out from behind her.

Sakura skidded to a halt. For a millisecond she froze (and prayed that Sasuke didn't see). She turned to face him. "What the hell, man? I don't know you."

In her head she cursed. That was not how one responded when someone called out to them. You'd say 'what do you want?' normally. One was not rude at first meeting. That just looked weird.

The raven haired man raised an eyebrow. The woman was behaving oddly. Was she hiding something? "Hn, is there an inn nearby?"

"There's a town five miles south west," she spoke far too quickly. Thank God, Sasuke hadn't got his Sharingan activated; he'd have seen she was a bunshin. It wasn't a lie though, there really was a town there.

His eyes narrowed. She had been coming from the north and it was obvious there was shelter there. He decided to point his observation out.

"Well yeah, there is an inn there as well…" she said sheepishly. "I guess it kinda slipped my mind,"

It was a small comfort that at least now she looked like an idiot and Sasuke took no interest in idiots.

His eyes narrowed further. "What are you hiding?" he asked suddenly.

"Hiding? Me? Oh I'm hiding nothing. In fact I can't hide cuz my friends tell me I'm like an open book or something like that…" Oh how lame she sounded in her panicked rambling.

He smirked to show he was unconvinced.

"Anyway, what are you doing out here?" Yes, that was good idea; to draw the focus away from herself.

"Searching for someone," he answered silkily. He didn't miss how she changed the subject.

"Who?" she probed although she knew the answer already. It was Uchiha Itachi. Who else could it be?

"A pink haired woman with green eyes named Haruno Sakura. Have you seen her?" He wondered whether it was a wise choice asking someone who was hiding something from him. But whatever their secret, it couldn't be anything to do with Sakura, could it?

Sakura's bunshin took a moment to compose herself. It wouldn't do to blow her cover now. She finally answered "No I haven't."

**A/N**: **This chapter is really bad :(. School work is really killing my writing buzz… **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thankies to Helen for giving the best advice ever :) (yes the whole fic IS dedicated to her but still she is so awesome that she deserves another thank you here)**

**Also thanks to CeriseSkies for leaving such a nice review.**

Sakura's bunshin was in a state of hysteria. Why the hell was Sasuke searching for her? Did she do something wrong? Did he want to kill her? A little part of her was happy that it was _**Sasuke **_searching for her; that she was finally worthy of his attention. But the pragmatic side of her was screaming that if Sasuke found her then her perfect plan would crumble. And currently she was on a mission. A mission which Sasuke played no part in unless he got involved with the Akatsuki. But even then she didn't think she would ever approach him for information. She'd seen the _deadly _side of him one too many times.

And at the moment he was heading to the inn the real her was staying in. The gods must be laughing at her right now. How the hell was she supposed to get in touch with Sakura to tell her to run for it? She couldn't dispel herself because Sakura wouldn't have enough chakra to create another one. Slug summons would take too long and would use up too much chakra. Maybe she could do a bunshin jutsu… with an extremely low amount of chakra. It was really her only chance after all. At least she knew the exact way to the inn whilst Sasuke only had a vague idea in the direction. It would have to be a bunshin made with the lowest amount of chakra possible. She still needed to have a convincing amount of chakra for her confrontation with Kajiura Takahashi. Thank God for her perfect chakra control; without it this wouldn't be possible.

Heaving a stressed sigh, she performed the kage bunshin jutsu. "Run and avoid Sasuke" she murmured as it sprinted off into the woods.

Still slightly worried she proceeded on towards her initial target.

* * *

Sakura was sitting in her room waiting for an experience to come back to her. What she didn't expect was a clone to come jumping through her open window, panting. The clone breathlessly related the encounter in the forest to Sakura.

Sakura froze, for a second, her face completely blank with a million thoughts rushing through her head. Snapping out of it, she nodded, grabbed her bag and jumped out of the window. Clone Sakura rushed out of the room to inform the innkeeper that she was leaving.

The innkeeper had looked mildly surprised that she was leaving in the middle of the night whilst freezing rain was pouring down but had cast it off as 'typical shinobi behaviour'. The clone quickly dispelled herself.

The innkeeper, having seen this several times before in his career merely raised an eyebrow. Obviously someone had been in a hurry.

* * *

As it turned out, Sakura had escaped in the nick of time. For ten minutes later, a dripping wet Sasuke walked in.

"One single room," he said in an exhausted, slightly irritated (who wouldn't be in a bad mood after running around in the rain?) tone. He held out a small sum of money in his hand.

Sensing that the man was not one for exchanging common pleasantries, the innkeeper just handed him a key and said "First floor, room number 37."

Sasuke took the key and went up the stairs. As he was walking through the corridor he noticed a door left ajar. That was unusual. Glimpsing through the doorway, he could discern the room had been left in an utter mess with the lights still switched on. Whoever had been there had probably left rather hastily. His curious nature instigated, he decided to investigate further.

Cautiously he opened the door fully. He took a step inside. The bed had been left unmade and the window was wide open. There was also a heavy smell of cosmetics. Another less obvious scent but clear to one who was accustomed to it was the tangy metallic scent of a well-used, bloodstained shuriken. He frowned. It appeared a kunoichi had been the most recent occupier of this room. A kunoichi who had clearly made jumping out the window her exit route. To be so reckless, not even bothering to clear up after herself, could only possibly mean that she was running away from someone approaching very fast.

He opened the bathroom door. There lay a box of hair dye, an empty contacts case and a lot of make up. It was strewn about in a disorderly manner, indicating it was applied hurriedly and then quickly tossed away. But what caught his eye were the strands of cotton candy pink hair that littered the basin and the shower cubicle. _Sakura._ And if that wasn't proof enough for him, hanging on the towel rack was Sakura's signature kunoichi dress and shorts.

At that moment everything clicked. The woman in the forest was actually Sakura's bunshin who had managed to somehow inform Sakura he was on his way to the inn. That explained her odd behaviour. Sakura had made a run for it.

But what didn't make sense was why Sakura was running from _him._ She was meant to love him unconditionally and unrequitedly. She wouldn't miss any chance to see him. She was supposed to be overjoyed that he was looking for her. Didn't she and Naruto spend so much time searching for him? Goddamnit, he was Uchiha Sasuke, the person she loved. He was _Sasuke-kun_.

She had indeed changed a lot, intentionally steering clear of his path.

Though he was inclined to just jump out of the window immediately and go out to look for her he knew he had to wait it out for Hebi to catch up to him. Plus he was cold and tired; in severe need of some rest. After all, he had been running around all day, a good bit of it in rain as well. At least he knew she was reasonably nearby.

He picked up her forgotten clothing, money and shuriken (he would return it all to her once she joined Hebi) and made his way to his room.

Agitatedly he changed his clothes and lay down on the bed. To think, he had been so close to her and had missed. Why didn't he realise it was a bunshin?

* * *

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. She had gotten away. Although it had ruined her calm mood significantly, it could have been worse. Colliding with Sasuke would have placed all her plan in jeopardy. Especially if he was searching for her, for whatever reason he might have.

It was a pity though. She would have to replenish her stocks of quite a few things. Checking her pack, she was missing: two shuriken that she had gotten out for sharpening; one set of clothes left in the bathroom; some stray money and all her cosmetics. Cosmetics were necessary for disguising herself and now she had none of them. Just her luck really. Cosmetics also happened to be the most costly things to replace.

* * *

Karin groaned. It was times like this she questioned whether Sasuke really deserved loving or not. For God's sake they had been chasing after him for about ten hours straight now. Finally they had gotten word from a snake that he had stopped at an inn for the night but he wanted them to be there in 4 hours or preferably less.

"Bloody hell, Sasuke's a slave driver," Suigetsu voiced the shared opinion of the trio out loud.

Karin was torn; could she possibly betray her life philosophy ('Sasuke can do no wrong') to agree with Suigetsu's (i.e. number one baka's) statement?

"Sasuke-sama does push us to our limits at times," Juugo conceded composedly.

Karin yawned "He doesn't want us to grow lazy, that's all. He likes hard work; after all we are supposed to be the best." There! That didn't sound too traitorous to Sasuke's perfection.

Suigetsu snorted "Hard work? More like brutal!"

There really was no argument to that so Karin decided it would be better not to reply.

* * *

The bunshin gritted her teeth. It was time to commence her 'act like a mediocre ninja with some vendetta against Kajiura Takahashi to glean all information possible' plan.

**Stage One: Not-so-discreet stalking, similar to the level of kid Konohamaru**

She sneaked about behind trees, making audible footstep noises. Whenever he looked behind him she almost silently cursed. It wouldn't be long now. Soon he would ask her to reveal herself. It was time to put her acting skills to the test. She gulped.

"You can come out now. Stealth isn't one of your talents," A smooth voice drawled lazily.

**Stage Two: Go in rashly for the kill**

Inwardly, she grinned. It wasn't meant to be. She jumped out from behind a tree. "I want to fight you!" she exclaimed boldly.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You killed my father!" That sounded believable enough. Suddenly she lunged forward with a kunai. Before she had even gotten within a foot of him, however, she faltered.

**Stage Three: Get lost in the genjutsu**

"Stop," a dreamy, persuasive voice spoke. She was standing still in the middle of a field of flowers. Cherry blossom petals danced around her to the cadence of the wind. It was beautiful. _Genjutsu._ Her hands moved to dispel it.

"Now don't do that, koishii. Do you not want to remain here? Free from betrayal, suffering, lies, war and death. Just free. This is paradise. Stay." the voice was like a lullaby gently coaxing her to sleep. She could not resist. It was so vivid, so believable that gradually any reservation just faded away.

She stood there, alone in the arcadia.

**Stage 4: Let him dispel you**

Kajiura Takahashi smirked. That had been far too easy. Just by using his cajoling voice how simple it was for someone to get lost in his genjutsu. So pathetic. He moved closer with a kunai in his hand. The moment it touched her skin all that was left was a cloud of smoke.

**Mission accomplished!**

His eyes narrowed. A clone? How odd. So this wasn't even meant to be an even fight. As he was a smart man it didn't take him long to put two and two together. So this time the person pursuing him was actually somewhat shrewd and rather than immediately jumping out to fight he/she sent a clone to glean information first. Finally a formidable opponent. This person could actually prove to be interesting.

* * *

Sakura awoke with a jolt. The memory had come to her. She scowled. The Bingo Book had severely underestimated this guy. His voice didn't just make you hazy, it could even be extremely persuasive and if he wanted to he could even manipulate your thoughts. Well outright confrontation was definitely not an option anymore. A proper fight would be impossible with that stupid kekkei genkai of his. But she needed a goddamn fight or she wouldn't be able to draw attention to herself. But with that ability of his… she wouldn't be able to lay one hit. Maybe she was looking at this the wrong way.

It clicked then. Poison. She had no doubt that that like any half talented shinobi out there he probably knew some poison tests. Yet she was completely certain she could concoct poisons to evade all those tests; she had assassinated high profile people this way. After all she was the Godaime's apprentice; creating antidotes to poison required knowledge in the composition of poisons themselves.

Indeed she was not planning to assassinate him with poison alone. That would be too quiet a death, not really a display of her abilities. She just needed to disarm him of that voice of his. From what she could tell it worked by channelling chakra to his voice box. So she just had to disrupt the chakra passageways in that area, then in theory it couldn't work.

That should be easy enough. There were plenty of venomous mixtures that could disrupt a chakra passageway. But she needed one that specifically targeted the ones by his voice box. There would be no fun if he couldn't focus any chakra in his whole body.

She had a vague idea on how, where and when to poison him as well. Because indeed he had to rest at an inn sometime, didn't he? He also had to nourish himself and hydrate himself. So all she had to do was slip a poison in his drink. Simple enough really. It was one of the most basic things you learnt at the Academy, and then at chuunin level techniques were more refined and advanced upon. She had done it several times before. Furthermore at an inn of reasonable size, amidst the hustle and bustle, it would be difficult to monitor who was doing what which meant it would be easy to slip a little something in.

She smirked. So far, her tactical abilities would have made Nara Shikamaru proud. Her plan was formed and now all she had to do was invent a poison.

Feeling a little triumphant, she got out her medical research and began to delve into the vast amount of information on plants and their properties.

* * *

**A/N: Kill me. It's been a long time since I last updated. But I have an excuse! Firstly my teachers decided to be evil and assign a lot of time consuming homework. Then I also had writer's block. Then once I finally finished my dad decided to use my computer without my knowledge. And he restarted it before I had a chance to save. So the last 500 words or so were completely gone… **

**I was going to include the actual fight scene in this chapter but then I realised if I tried it would take even longer to get this out…**

**On an additional note, can I say that there is nothing better than coming home from a rough day at school, checking my mailbox and seeing a review? (hint, hint)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Slight profanity in this chapter.**

Sakura was feeling buoyant this morning. Her plan was set and she had got a job at an inn (at the moment she was currently sweeping floors). Her poison was ready for usage and now all she had to do was wait for the night. One might mistake her energetic attitude for happiness but it wasn't. It was a fierce, burning anticipation for the battle that was yet to come. It was that knowledge of a glorious fight coming her way that was the cause of the butterflies in her stomach and that giddy exhilarating feeling. It was not blood thirst, it was the need to prove herself.

After Sasuke left she had become slightly obsessive on that. She always felt that deep, deep necessity to show that she was not weak. Not weak. Not. Weak. It was her mantra that kept her going 'I am not weak'. Never strong. Just 'not weak'. Because that was all she ever could be. Compared to her team mates (or ex team mate in Sasuke's case) everything she did was insignificant. How could one compare to Hatake Kakashi, the infamous copy ninja; Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi vessel who would never give up; or Uchiha Sasuke, the lone survivor of the Uchiha massacre fixated on revenge? All she ever could do was try not to be a burden.

She had pulled herself through all the intense training, pushed her body to her limits just for that. Just not to be a burden. Not be weak. _Not weak, not weak, not WEAK. _Everything she ever did was for the sake of not being weak. For acknowledgement. Acknowledgement from those she believed strong. And look at her now. A feared kunoichi who walked with her head held high.

She smiled. All those people who always thought that she would come to nothing had been proven wrong. Those quiet murmurs of how pathetic she was slowly became murmurs of her strength. Sometimes she swelled with pride at the praise but sometimes there was a hollow ache. The one person who she desperately wanted to notice her wasn't even there to see her progress. She shook her head at the thought. Sasuke could go to hell for all she cared.

Though hell would be wasting such a pretty face's potential. He was so handsome he could be an angel. But she supposed even hell needed some good looking demons. And Sasuke wasn't the heavenly kind of handsome anyway; no he was simply and utterly _sinfully_ beautiful. He was so beautiful that she was sure it went against the laws of nature. And angels don't defy laws do they now?

She reflected on her sort of encounter (it was in the eyes of bunshin but it was an encounter nonetheless) with him. Time had done well for his looks (hey, just because she was a strong capable kunoichi did not mean that she wasn't a teenage girl). As to why he was searching for her, well she had more important things on her mind. Well not necessarily more important. Just a little easier on her mind and less likely to cause her a sleepless night. W-wait was that him leaning back on his chair smirking slightly in all his glory with his followers surrounding him?

Another quick wayward glance confirmed her suspicion. It really was him. She gulped a little then lowered her head and continued sweeping. "Fate keeps throwing the fucking son of a devil at me," she muttered under her breath.

Sasuke looked up.

* * *

Onyx and jade clashed. He knew those eyes, those sparkling jade orbs. Those ones that were so alive, alive, alive. He didn't know why he looked up; he was just surprised that at such foul language coming from an elderly person (he also wondered who the 'fucking son of a devil' was). Perhaps it was the impression he got from the few elders he knew but to him they all seemed stiff and upright and diplomatic hypocrites. The only one of elderly he knew with no qualms about losing their temper was Tsunade. He wondered if Sakura picked up the habit from her. This woman had the same eyes as Sakura.

His eyes were staring at her so intensely that had she been younger she would have blushed out of embarrassment. She did hope she had masked her chakra well. She wrinkled up her nose and murmured "Youngsters these days have no respect."

Sasuke continued staring at her. He could imagine Sakura acting like that when she was older. She always did have a fiery temper. He smirked and decided to amuse himself a little. "Why should I respect you? I am more than you ever will be."

A little furrow appeared in her forehead just then. "Why you pathetic little brat! If I didn't value my job I would kick you to the other side of the world!"

His smirk widened. "Sure you could do that?"

"Stupid arrogant cocky shinobi!" she exclaimed exasperated. "I'm not as goddamn weak as you bloody think!"

"You're annoying." to be honest Sasuke didn't now why he was continuing this immature bickering. The woman just reminded him of how Sakura would be probably. If she didn't have a crush on him.

Sakura was just about to open her mouth before tall lady approached, towering over her. "May I ask what you are doing, Miyake-san?"

Sakura (or Miyake Yuuki, as she currently known as) trembled. "Erm, uh trying to keep our guests entertained?" It was possibly the poorest excuse she had ever made in her life. Suigetsu burst into full out laughter, Karin giggled and Juugo had a small smile on his face. Sasuke snorted.

"So insulting guests is synonymous with 'entertaining' them now? Whilst you were supposed to be sweeping the floors?" The lady's voice was that dangerously calm tone, the one that comes before the storm of anger.

"Uh, no, erm…"

"That's it! Get to kitchen duty for now and I'll be having words with you tomorrow morning!"

"But -"

"Now!"

As Sakura retreated to the kitchen Suigetsu called out "You were good entertainment, obaa-san." between his chortling.

Sakura turned her head, displaying a wide grin for a moment. And whilst she was walking away Sasuke could have swore he saw a flash of pink.

* * *

Back in the kitchen Sakura allowed herself a few moments laughter. Sasuke had actually, indirectly, helped her. Now she was in a prime position for poisoning someone and she didn't have to think up of any excuse. And he had brought a little bit of life into what she was sure was going to be a tedious day. It was completely amazing how no matter how she looked or who she was posing act he would always consider her annoying. It would be a solid foundation to base ones life upon, she supposed. No matter what, she would be annoying to Sasuke. A constant.

Slightly fidgety, she adjusted her wig a little again. She was posing as an old maid this time. It was odd, looking in the mirror and seeing a wrinkled, worn out face. She hardly recognised herself.

It had cost her a rather large chunk of money to pull this off. She frowned, remembering her surprise when she calculated the total cost of everything. She had vaguely wondered, at that point, on whether killing the Kajiura was really worth all the hassle. However it had also thrown her into Sasuke's path more than average and even if she didn't _love _love anymore she still missed him and liked him as a team mate. It was fun to bicker with him. She wondered why she never did it before. Oh yeah, because she was ridiculously infatuated with him and wouldn't dare say a word that could even be remotely taken as a slight bit offensive to him. Well when she was twelve she really was missing out on something.

Regaining her composure, she did realise she had work to do. Gazing around the kitchen, she smiled. She remembered when she first learnt how to cook.

_Flashback_

"_Gah! A healthy diet consists of more than just instant ramen Naruto!" she chastised the blonde, exasperated at seeing him once more slurping down ramen for lunch. Swiftly she snatched it away from him and threw it away._

"_But Sakura-chaaaaaaaaaaaan!" he whined and pouted a little._

_Seeing his cute pout Sakura softened her tone a little. "Why don't you eat something else for a change? After all, sooner or later you'll grow sick of ramen,"_

_Naruto gave her a look of pure disbelief – he didn't think it was possible to grow sick of ramen. He then mumbled "I don't know how to make anything else."_

"_Well, neither do I. So let's learn how to cook together!" She suggested brightly. "And we can even invite Kakashi, Sai and Yamato to Team Kakashi's first home cooked dinner!" Truth be told, she was sick of always eating at a restaurant or takeout. And for Pete's sake they were both now competent ninjas who had done extremely difficult missions in their time. Surely cooking couldn't be that hard of a task as taking down Sasori of the Akatsuki. Oh how wrong she was…_

"_Ok! So what are we going to make Sakura-chan?" he was enthusiastic now, he was going to spend time with Sakura. Although he didn't crush on her as he used to – they were more like brother and sister now – spending time with her was always fun. And he hardly ever got to spend time with her these days._

"_Hmm… how about sukiyaki?"_

_Naruto agreed happily._

_45 minutes later…_

"_Ouch! Sakura-chan I cut my hand!" Naruto began hopping around sucking his bleeding thumb._

"_To hell with kitchen knives, kunais cut much better!" Sakura threw her kitchen knife out of the window because it wouldn't cut the vegetables neatly (thinking back it was actually something to do with the hand holding the kitchen knife…). Only seconds later a bloodcurdling scream was heard. The pink haired kunoichi had managed to stab herself in the hand._

"_Sakura-channnnnn the thing in the pot is turning yellow!"_

"_I DON'T CARE! LET IT BURN IN THE FIERY PITS OF HELL AND TURN PURPLE FOR ALL I CARE! AHHH WHERE ARE THE NOODLES! THEY SHOULD HAVE FINISHED BOILING BY-_

"_Why is there smoke everywhere?"_

"_OH MY GOD THERE'S A FIRE! DAMMNIT I NEED A SUITON JUTSU NOWWWW!!! THE FIRE IS NOT GOING TO BURN ALL OUR TOIL AND LABOUR! WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS GODDAMN SUKIYAKI IF IT'S THE BLOODY LAST THING I DO!"_

_God decided to be merciful and let their mediocre attempts at suiton jutsu work to some extent (water was neither Naruto's or Sakura's elemental affinity) successfully putting the fire out. _

_Eventually after more blood, sweat and tears (all of this can be taken completely literally), a broken window, several items thrown aggressively outside and a practically destroyed kitchen they managed to produce something very remotely similar to sukiyaki. _

_Panting heavily Sakura and Naruto opened the door to his apartment to Kakashi, Sai and Yamato._

_Kakashi raised an eyebrow at his ex students' dishevelled appearance when he suddenly was hit by a vile, disgusting smell. He grimaced. It was going to be a long dinner. He hoped Sai wouldn't make one of his typically blunt oblivious statements; the jounin was not in any mood to deal with an angered Sakura._

"_He(pant pant)llo(pant pant) Kaka(pant pant)shi(pant pant)-sensei" with that sentence Sakura collapsed onto the floor._

"_Come (pant pant) in" Naruto then followed suit._

_Kakashi, Sai and Yamato led themselves in to the dining room and took their seats. When they looked into the pot all they saw was some sort of watery ashes and a rather dodgy looking fluid._

_Eventually Sakura and Naruto dragged themselves to the table._

"_Are you this is safe to eat?" Sai asked._

_The next day Sai was in hospital bed recovering from grievous bodily harm. The rest of team were in their own beds recovering from severe stomach upsets. To this day it remains a mystery on who was the worst off._

_End Flashback_

After that incident she had to spend a week in a civilian family learning how to cook without raising hell in the kitchen. It was fun, no doubt.

"One shrimp tempura" A voice called out. Sakura began working as she would for the rest of the day.

As night began to set in she noticed a hooded figure approaching the humble inn. She grinned; she'd have to work at this inn for a shorter time than she had anticipated. She reached for the poison in her pocket. Now she just had to wait for the right order to come along and out with the poison.

Two hours later…

It was all too simple. It was all over in a second. She just slipped the poison in his food and it was done. The true fun was yet to come – tomorrow evening. Rolling her head to one side on her pillow, she fell asleep feeling quite accomplished.

* * *

Wearily she woke up, yawning. Remembering the importance of the day ahead her previous lethargy disappeared and she practically jumped out of bed.

Brushing her teeth and washing her face excitedly, she hastily put her wig on and styled it. She was practically bouncing up and down while writing her resignation letter (for her job at the inn) and after everything routine was taken care of she found she could not sit still.

Enthusiastically she began destroying her carefully constructed disguise (that amount of make up was extremely uncomfortable) grinned as she eyed herself in the mirror. It had been so long since she last saw her actual face.

Doing various activities to kill time until evening set in, she set out pretty impatient.

* * *

Now was the time. Sakura vaguely wondered if Tsunade would have approved of her plan but now it was time to prove herself and proceed to the next stage or die. In the green of the forest clearing with her target a few feet away from her facing her there was little time to contemplate on people's approval.

A cool, composed voice broke the silence "So I see. You are the one that poisoned in an effort to combat my kekkei genkai." Takahashi, although he didn't show it, was intrigued. She had obviously planned everything out.

"I am," she replied with a calm smile of her own. She was already in an offensive stance; ready to move with a moment's notice.

"The Godaime's apprentice, I should have known," there was not even a hint of apprehension in his deep dark purple eyes. He spoke in a monotone –just evenly stating facts. "Tsunade-san has taught you well."

"So I've been told." Both their voices were completely impervious to the tension in the atmosphere. Both had the same poker face on. They were testing each other, trying to sum the other up, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

"This is part of a much larger plan." he deduced it all very quickly. After all she could have easily killed him, through poisoning – there was no need to just damage his voice box.

She nodded slowly as a confirmation.

"You can drop the genjutsu now."

"If you so wish."

And the illusion disappeared leaving Takahashi standing alone in the clearing, His eyes narrowed in concentration quickly scanning the area for any signs of her. He found his target quickly and launched to attack. Suddenly she was behind him with a fist aiming to attack. The brown haired man easily deflected it and she hit a tree instead; completely demolishing an area of woodland.

So she had indeed inherited her super human strength from Tsunade.

"I don't rely on the Kajiura kekkei genkai." He directed a kick to her stomach. She dodged it mostly but his leg still brushed against her waist.

A small hiss of pain came from the kunoichi as she leaped backwards. Before she landed on the ground she threw a kunai with an exploding tag. It skimmed past him and hit the tree behind him. He smirked as he figured out her strategy. She had wanted the tree to explode onto him. A fool could avoid that. Neatly he sidestepped out of the way. In an instant his eyes widened as he saw the shuriken embedded in the trees surrounding him. It was obvious they were intended to fall on him. The pink haired kunoichi was smarter than he gave her credit for. Rapidly forming the hand seals for substitution, he exhaled once he was out of the danger zone. It had been a while since he last faced such a challenge. He now devised a new line of attack.

Sakura watched waiting for a (hopefully injured) figure to emerge out of the wreckage. But instead a seemingly uninjured man stepped out from the shadows far away. "You'll have to try harder than that Haruno Sakura-san."

She looked him over. He hadn't seemed to have broken a sweat. Surely that wasn't possible. Could it be a –

"You are weak."

_Not weak. __Not weak. __**Not weak.**_

Anger clouded her senses then and she sprung. She would never be weak. Her fist landed into empty space but she didn't care. Blindly lunging every time she saw his face not realising she wasn't laying a hit.

It was when she saw a cherry blossom petal she finally came to her senses. Cherry blossom trees didn't grow in this area. As her hands reached to dispel the genjutsu she felt a searing pain in her abdomen and it was already ended. She fell to the ground groaning. The last trick up her sleeve had better work or she was dead.

He smirked. She had reacted more violently than he had expected to the very mild taunt. As he drew closer to finish her off he noticed her abnormally low chakra levels. Surely she hadn't utilised that much chakra in their fight. She didn't use any particular jutsus that could take up so much. Was this a trap? He then noticed a figure lunging towards him.

An ear splitting crack was heard as he flew through the air. A clone with more chakra than she had, eh? A clever trick. She had broken his entire ribcage and possibly more bones here and there. Now even if he defeated her, he'd have to get medical treatment and fast.

Sakura now stood up with a small smile on her lips.

She didn't have much energy left in her either but he couldn't capitalise on that being so handicapped himself. Whatever he did he'd give her plenty of time to avoid. At least she was a respectable opponent to have lost to.

She laid the final blow with a grimace. It had been a tough battle. Now it was time to leave her mark and make it known that she was the one who killed him in a subtle manner.

* * *

**A/N: I am such a bad updater. I said this would be out by the end of March but it's now April. This was the first fight scene I have ever written so I would appreciate feedback. Also does Sakura come across a little too perfect in this story? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in over a month, my life has just been really hectic. Oh and thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 5! It is the most reviewed chapter in this fic!**

Itachi made an ever so slight change in his facial expression to show his distaste at the food in front of him. He then laid his knife down and stood up. Tracking down Kajiura Takahashi was not going to wait until after dinner, he now decided; if dinner meant eating steak.

"Itachi, where are you going? The food is good here,"

The raven haired man watched in disgust as his companion munched the food down. The stench was getting to him now.

"The mission needs completion." and with that he left.

'_Weird kid.' _Kisame mused. _'Can't he just say he dislikes steak? Oh no the Uchiha Itachi must have no weaknesses. I pity him sometimes.'_

Itachi was roaming in the forest. With luck he could finish up the mission today then have some personal time. After all he had more pressing matters at hand; he didn't have much time left in the world and he had several objectives needing to be accomplished. He wondered how Sasuke was doing after all those years. He never got to see his little brother grow up, never got aid him in his training, never got to tease him like he should have as an older brother. Why? All because they were _Uchiha. _Uchiha. The name was like a curse. An eternal cycle of pain, lies and betrayal.

He wished he wasn't some sort of shinobi prodigy. He wished he could have leaded a normal life, he wished he didn't have to hurt Sasuke so. He wished he could die.

Once he finished off this small, menial mission he resolved to seek Sasuke out and bring an end to all this.

He smelled blood and stumbled upon the wreckage. A battle between ninja had taken place here, he could tell. The woodland had been damaged by hits filled with chakra and there was smoke reminiscent of an exploding tag. A thick cloud of dust was still settling down, scents of sweat, blood and weaponry were heavy in the air. The scene reminded him of his time as an ANBU hunter nin; arriving at barely ended clashes and drawing conclusions. Approaching the body, his eyes widened.

Someone had done the job for him. There lay the dead body of Kajiura Takahashi sprawled out on the floor. Well how nice. They had left the body for him to claim. Either they were careless, which he doubted since it took some skill to take on an S class criminal, or it was intentional (but for what reasons would they leave a body from which they could earn quite a lot of money). The other, more likely possibility was that someone took him on alone and was too injured to carry the body. Judging from all the blood it was the most probable thing to have happened. A second glance however suggested something with a slight more design to it. The body had been perfectly healed, so much so that the only thing wrong was the fact that they were dead. Easier for examination he supposed but the person left the body there. This could have meant they had already examined it but if they had they would have destroyed the body. Bodies were never just left out.

Kneeling down, he saw pink strands of hair littered about everywhere. Was that not the hair colour of Sasuke's genin team mate? Haruno Sakura, the now renowned medic. He had only seen her once and he had construed that she was weak. It was odd though, seeing such hatred flash in her eyes. Countless times he had seen fear, disgust, hatred just based upon principal, even twisted admiration. Hatred because of someone else's suffering… well that was new to him. Her hatred… it was all written on her face for the world to see. She hated him because of what he had done to Sasuke. A better reason than most, he supposed.

Well that was one possibility of who could have been the perpetrator. He didn't doubt that rest of Kakashi's team had grown stronger so maybe by now Sakura would be capable to tackle the missing nin.

He was ready to just pick up the body and leave but something beckoned him just look a little deeper.

A little piece of paper lay beneath the dead man. His eyes widened when he saw what it was – a ripped off portion of his medical file, hidden under a bit of fabric that he knew came from Sasuke's old headband.

So it was Sasuke baiting he guessed. If it was involving Sasuke then he would have to see this person. The most likely thing was that this person was from Konoha, and although they had vowed that Sasuke would be protected, it couldn't hurt to be too careful. Besides it could be one of Sasuke's team members acting independently whose feelings since then had changed. He had to ensure Sasuke's safety. Sasuke could not die before he did.

If this was all meant to lure Sasuke then it meant Sasuke was in the area. He could test the abilities of his little brother then.

Creating a crow bunshin, he picked up the medical file (the only thing that could possibly draw Sasuke) and Kajiura Takahashi; the body would complete the mission. Then he set began to follow the trail left.

Arriving at secluded area, he saw a small shabby hut with the warmth of a fire radiating from it. There was not a dangerously high chakra level emitting from it so he was sure if the person leapt out to attack he could fend them off fairly easily.

Sakura's heart was pounding. For this to work she had to give just the right impression. If her proposal didn't look well thought out he would reject it. Suddenly she realised that it was not necessarily Itachi's chakra she was detecting, it could be anyone.

That being said, should she wait for him to come in or come out and greet him herself. If it was someone other than Itachi being inside would put her at a disadvantage; it would make it harder to do a quick exit.

Her breathing hitched, she opened the door and stepped outside.

"You came," a voice spoke out clearly.

There stood a proud, grown up, slightly battered looking Haruno Sakura. Itachi scrutinised her carefully. Judging from her posture, she was not intending to attack him. For a while there was silence.

"I know the truth you know," she said almost conversationally.

"What truth are you speaking of Haruno-san?" There was no chance she knew about the Uchiha Massacre – he had ensured no on knew apart from those 3 elders.

"Your final mission," she said in a tone that left no room for doubt. She knew. "And your illness."

He stayed silent. In these situations it was best to see exactly what the other wanted. Did she want to tell the truth to Sasuke? Patch things up between the brothers? That was likely; he knew her to be a compassionate person. Or did she think she could heal his illness?

"I have a proposal," and for the first time a spark of hesitation entered her eyes. "Come inside so we can discuss it properly."

Despite trying to come off confidently, she felt quite wary as she opened the door for him. Perhaps it was out of habit but she found she couldn't look him in the eyes.

"Sit down," she gestured to one of the small poorly built chairs.

Itachi had to admit, the girl was worth admiring for her courage. Not many could talk to him as confidently as she was now. He sat.

Suddenly Sakura felt very uncomfortable. She'd gone over this a million times in her head, she'd planned everything out but it seemed so awkward. How could she just recite out her plan to a man perfectly capable of killing her at a moment's notice? How could she be calm when all her instincts were telling her to run?

Her uneasiness did not go unnoticed by Itachi. It was apparent to him that years of being fed a lie had obviously got some things ingrained into her brain however illogical they were. Still she was trying her best not to let it show. "I do not intend to harm you Haruno-san," If he did not intend for something to happen, it wouldn't happen. It was a reassurance of sorts.

She stopped pacing and looked up. Then immediately looked down again. Realising that this was not the kunoichi Tsunade taught her to be she raised her head and cast him a level glance. It was harder than it looked. Irrational fear was still making her shake. "W-well, I think I can heal you!" she blurted out anxiously.

"My disease is incurable, Haruno-san." Itachi appreciated the thought bit he had long since accepted the truth.

Gaining a little more confidence she tried again "I know I can, I've even made a complete plan. All I need is your cooperation." She thrust a large pile of paper at him filled with diagrams and pages and pages of writing.

So she had indeed earned her title as one of the greatest medics out there. Everything was well thought out and well researched from the look of it. But what was the use in extending his pathetic life? "I have no desire in living any longer,"

Although the sentence was said in a composed, decided manner so typical of Itachi, Sakura felt that for once she saw a little more than usual. She saw the endless torment he put himself through, she saw a man who hated himself. She saw someone haunted.

"Maybe you want to die by Sasuke's hand but surely that would be an easier outcome to achieve if you weren't dying already!" the pink haired woman almost cried out.

"There is enough time," he replied coolly. Why was she so desperate to help him?

"Don't you want Sasuke to feel any sort of pride in defeating you? Don't you want to give him a true fight? Do you want all his training to be meaningless because he was fighting a man that would die anyway? Do you want to be in pain for the remainder of your life?"

Itachi detected some sort of desperation when she said Sasuke's name. "He doesn't know I'm ill,"

"But you are! Just because he doesn't know doesn't change anything! He'll still not be fighting _you _at your full strength! That's all he's ever wanted! To surpass you! Why are you trying to rob that of him? Why?!"

"Sasuke will be fine, Haruno-san," He listened her outburst and was surprised at the amount of passion in her voice. Sasuke had indeed got faithful team mates. Neither Naruto nor Sakura had given up on him yet.

It was then Sakura realised that this was not how she was meant to convince him. Sasuke wasn't meant to come into this. She cleared her throat and tried to calm herself down. Her voice more level now she continued "You can't predict your dying date. At the moment you have such tight time constraints that you may have to fight Sasuke before he is ready. If you go easy on him, he'll never find closure."

"That much is true," He then got up to leave.

"Wait! Please!"

"I will consider your offer." The door closed.

Sakura sighed and buried her head in her hands. That was so completely draining. It had been such a long time since she had an expressive outburst like that. She had always thought she was more controlled than that, was more mature than that. But now that outburst had brought up years of unwanted emotions to the surface. The original reasons why she had wanted to become strong. The reasons forgotten in the midst of all the years of gruelling training.

"_I'll help you with your revenge! I'll do something!"_

"_Next time, we'll bring him back together!"_

Her heart throbbed at those poignant memories, hopes crushed before her eyes. But now, now she had a chance. A chance to finally do something right. And she would do it even if it killed her.

Itachi frowned. To not live in unbearable physical agony was very tempting but it could potentially disrupt his carefully constructed plan. A plan that, for Sasuke's sake, could not be disrupted at all costs.

He reflected on the clone encounter.

_Flashback_

"_Itachi!" There Sasuke stood with so much hatred in his eyes as usual. But not enough. Itachi could see it still; there was still an infinitesimal fragment that little boy who idolised his older brother. A little boy lost and confused, still desperately wanting to believe it was all a bad dream. A boy still looking for one plausible reason as to why, someone who would hesitate when they were landing the final blow. In the heat of the battle, he didn't doubt Sasuke would kill him. But he would mourn, regret the death. He wondered if he could possibly increase the hatred further._

_Alongside him were the members of Team Hebi._

"_Sasuke," There was no change in his demeanour; he seemed completely unperturbed by the sudden arrival.  
_

"_I'll kill you!" _

'_As usual' the clone thought. Those words were always present in every meeting they had._

_Sasuke quickly began making hand seals for a Katon jutsu. Itachi's clone dodged easily._

_It was then Sasuke caught the scent of blood. And saw the pink hair on the ground._

_He ceased in his attack. "Itachi!" he roared. "What did you do to Sakura?!"_

"_Sakura? So you haven't cut off all your bonds after all foolish otouto," he looked amused._

"_You are mistaken, I just want her abilities." It was more of an attempt to convince himself, to ignore his heart pounding against his chest at the very thought of what Itachi could do to Sakura. She wouldn't stand the smallest chance against Itachi._

"_So do I," a dark smirk made its way onto the clone's face. He saw the dramatic change in Sasuke's facial expression. He saw frustration, helplessness, anger and… worry? _

"_Goddamnit Itachi what did you do?!" _

"_The blood isn't mine," was his cryptic statement._

_Sasuke lunged at him with Chidori – not even thinking rationally._

_End Flashback_

Well it seemed Haruno Sakura had already disrupted his plan. But she could be useful. Sasuke did care about her and he was searching for her. She could be the one to reconcile him and his past; she could be the one to protect him from Madara.

She was intelligent too, smart enough to be able to keep Sasuke out of harm's way.

Itachi made his decision then. He would agree to her offer, as long as she agreed to help Sasuke. He was reasonably sure she would concede – from her outburst he could tell she did worry over Sasuke.

Sasuke kicked a tree in frustration. He clenched his fists till they were white just thinking about Itachi meeting Sakura. How could he have tortured her? What if he used Tsukiyomi? Horrific concepts filled the man's mind.

What angered him the most though is that he _knew_ Sakura wouldn't agree to whatever Itachi wanted her to do, no matter what. She was far too loyal to Konoha to do such a thing.

The gods must be laughing at him right now. He hissed. It wasn't that he cared, he just needed her skill.

Even his team mates were steering clear of him, intimidated by the dark aura he was emitting.

The raven haired man finally felt it was time to think logically. All was not lost just yet.

Despite all the blood around, it didn't necessarily mean Sakura was dead. Not all of it seemed to be Sakura's – judging by the placement. It wasn't around the place her hair was scattered anyway.

If Itachi already had gotten to her then he wouldn't have answered 'so do I'. He would taunt him more then, wouldn't he? It just suggested Itachi was pursuing her; for what reasons Sasuke couldn't fathom.

That meant he would have to find her first.

"Let's go," he said coldly and started following the remains of the trail left behind.

**A/N: This chapter was originally going to be longer, going to encompass a lot more but I have end of year exams soon to revise for along with a huge pile of homework. Due to all my stress and exhaustion I'm really sorry if this chapter turned out to be quite terrible.**


	7. Chapter 7

Upon entering a quaint café, Itachi didn't expect to see the remarkable pink haired kunoichi quietly sipping green tea.

The day before he had neglected clearing up her trail so he was relatively certain that Sasuke must have discovered her. That would have been the best way forward. Then whatever proposals she had wouldn't matter, she would just have to stand by Sasuke and watch Itachi's plan unfold without disturbance. Except now she would have been a beneficial addition, someone who could protect Sasuke from finding out the truth.

Unfortunately Itachi knew she was not someone to be underestimated. She definitely did have the skills required to evade Sasuke if she wanted to.

She motioned at him to join her, acquiring the attention (and envy) of every woman in the room.

Calmly he walked over to her table without displaying even a hint of surprise.

"Hey," she gave him a smile. It was unusual for him, seeing someone so relaxed around him. "So you like these kinds of places too, huh?"

He nodded stiffly, wondering when she would reveal her true purpose. "You are less tense now, Sakura-san," he observed.

"Well in that hut you had about a dozen opportunities to kill me and you didn't. So then I thought 'well if I'm not dead yet then he's a safe guy'. And you look a whole lot less scary without your Akatsuki cloak. By the way you can just call me Sakura; I don't need so much respect you know," Sakura was grinning.

It had been such a long time since someone was actually conversing with him, smiling – aside from his partner. Discussion was something to savour. "Sakura, I actually had precisely 17 opportunities to have given you an instant death." he deadpanned.

Rather than the figure inciting fear the woman threw back her head and chortled. "You actually counted?"

"As a shinobi, you must always be analysing, always looking for even the smallest opening and be fully prepared to act upon it if need arise," he recited plainly, remembering what he had learnt so many years ago – in the days when he still had a few shreds of innocence left.

"Oh, oh I've read the book you got that off from! It was in the introduction of 'Strategising on the Battlefield' and it is also integrated into the Shinobi Code!" she exclaimed.

"You are well read" he stated. He was slightly shocked that she retained information from her Academy days as not many would bother.

"Na, we all had to read this stuff in the Academy," she said shaking off the praise.

"The majority of people read but do not understand nor absorb what is being said,"

"You mean most people forget like the moment they graduate, right?" she simplified his formal style.

He replied "You could put it that way."

"So you wanna order anything?" she asked gesturing at her green tea. "Feel free to, it's my treat."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Itachi nodded. "I'll have green tea."

"Wow! That's my favourite as well!" the roseate exclaimed happily. It seemed they did have common ground after all. "Ayame-chan please can we have green tea for my friend here?" she called out.

The waitress who was busy serving someone else at that moment turned around and flashed a smile, quickly mouthing 'I'm right on it' before resuming her work.

Itachi watched the exchange discerning that there was some degree of familiarity between the two women.

"I always visit this café when I'm in the area," Sakura explained. "Everyone knows me as a regular now,"

"Is that not unwise on your part? Surely if anyone came to ask questions here they could easily tell a potential enemy everything about you?" Sometimes he did have to question the intelligence of the woman before him.

"Na, do I look like the Hokage's apprentice in this civilian garb? I've even masked my chakra to make it look normal."

To an untrained eye he surmised that she appeared to be just another normal teenage girl. But to a perceptive person, it was evident in her manner of talking, her skin, the way she carried herself that she was a skilled kunoichi. And he didn't doubt that over the years she had gained astute adversaries.

Just then the waitress named Ayame came with the green tea Itachi had ordered. "My, my Saku-chan what a cute boyfriend you've got – the whole café is burning in envy."

"Naw you've got the wrong idea we're just friends, right Inari?" she hoped Itachi would play along. She hadn't used his actual name; it was too recognisable even in civilian places. A memory hit of the Land of the Waves. Inari was Tazuna's grandson, wasn't he?

Itachi just nodded.

"Are you sure? This is the first time you've come in with company; it has to be important… Aw you've hidden him away for so long, aren't we friends?" the brunette was teasing in a mock-hurt tone.

Sakura laughed. "Believe me if you knew our history you wouldn't doubt that we're just friends. Anything else would be too awkward."

"Pray tell, what is this history?"

Mouthing a 'please don't kill me because I'm going to describe Sasuke in a less than flattery way' to Itachi she began to talk. "Well you see when I was little I had like the hugest crush on his little brother –

"Was he cute?"

"Yeah, practically every girl had a crush on him, but God, looking back I don't know what I saw in him. He was so arrogant and _so_ moody that he only opened his mouth to insult someone or whine. He called me 'annoying' I think. Still does now. Seriously once a football hit him on the head and he was knocked unconscious and what does he say when he wakes up to me crying over his supposedly dead body? 'You're heavy'. Any decent boy knows not to insult an emotional girl's weight! He was lucky I was too infatuated with him to care."

"He didn't…" Ayame gasped horrified.

Clearing her throat Sakura continued "So yeah we were made to work together for a year with my close friend (who I didn't like that much at the time) Nakatsu. During this time we actually kinda grew closer and he became nicer to me. He said some really sweet stuff at times and beat the shit out of these guys who were bullying me. He and Nakatsu were always closer though. But then he turned out to be gay and left us for some creepy guy wearing too much make up and an unhealthy obsession with snakes –

Itachi chuckled in spite of himself. Her description of Orochimaru was amusing enough. She did have the sense to tweak a few details and names so it wouldn't look suspicious.

After muttering a few words of sympathy, Ayame excused herself. "Crap I have to get back to work now! Do tell the rest of the story sometime. See ya!" and she ran off back into the kitchens.

"So how did laughing feel Itachi-san?" Sakura asked grinning, nothing had escaped her notice.

"As laughing should feel, I believe." he said it seriously. "Is there an abnormality in my laughter, medic nin?" It was as close to teasing as he could get.

"No, no! Your laughter sounds nice though – kinda strange to my ears because you always had to keep up an evil façade," her eyes glazed over wistfully. "I never heard Sasuke laugh you know."

The man's expression darkened slightly.

"Even before the massacre… he never really loosened up. It was always about training for him." Opening up about her possible love to someone she barely knew was an odd and strangely relaxing experience.

"He always was an ambitious boy" What Sakura was saying was true to a great extent. Itachi had often suggested that maybe he should go play in the park like other kids his age but he never did. Training was the only thing that could ever light up his face. Itachi had found it frustrating that Sasuke never realised just how lucky he was and never tried to enjoy his childhood – a childhood that Itachi yearned for.

"So, have you thought about it? My proposal, I mean." She had gotten so sidetracked that she had nearly forgotten about her actual purpose.

"I have contemplated it and have come to a decision," the raven haired man responded coolly.

"And that is…?" she enquired, curious.

"On a conditional basis I will accept your treatment."

She nodded in understanding. "So what are the conditions?"

"That after healing me you will join Sasuke and heal him after his battle with me once he's ready. You will support him throughout his life and prevent him from ever discovering the truth."

Dismayed she replied "I can't do that. He won't let me."

"I believe he will. My clone met up with him near the sight of your fight with the missing nin. Although I don't think he would admit he was definitely concerned about your wellbeing. That combined with the fact that he is actively searching for you certainly shows he cares about you to some extent and respect you enough."

"I've always tried to help him! He would never let me in! I tried to comfort him, to ease his pain so many times! I…" her voice lowered till it was barely above a whisper "I loved him. I did my best but there's only so much you can do when someone doesn't even want your help."

Being a naturally insightful man, Itachi noticed that whenever it came to his little brother her bubbly, energetic disposition quickly faded away. There was always despair and resignation but still wanting the best for him and wanting him to be happy. It seemed she'd given up on being to help him herself but still believed that someone else could. "I think the correct tense would be _love _rather than _loved_,

"Does this even matter? The fact is he will never let me be close to him."

"If you want to heal me you have to accept the conditions I have laid out."

Sakura debated with herself. Why did she want to heal Itachi again? It wasn't on a whim for sure. In her logical mind her excuse was in order to gather information but even she accepted it as a pathetic attempt at convincing herself that it was nothing to do with Sasuke. All her subconscious thoughts had resurfaced the day before anyway so there was no use trying to deny the incontrovertible. Was healing Itachi worth having to face Sasuke everyday, running the risk of falling in love with him again and getting her heart broken?

Eyes narrowed, Itachi watched her ponder. Although being relatively certain that eventually she would agree, often in his years as a shinobi he had been surprised by people's decisions and he had learnt that even the most complex understanding of psychology would be flawed. Plans would always be imperfect when they involved people.

Uchiha Sasuke was almost losing his mind in panic. Hebi had followed the trail only to arrive at pretty much nothing. There was no evidence of any people in the house, no scents or hairs to go by… all he knew was that a fire had burned. So the hut could have been inhabited by anyone.

'_Damn it Sakura, stop playing this game of cat and mouse. If I don't find you Itachi will." _he thought frustrated.

His curse seal flared at slightest things and he had found it so difficult to sleep the night before knowing that Itachi was out there looking for Sakura. It wasn't that he cared (or so he told himself) he just needed her for his plans.

He was only moody because he was suffering from sleep deprivation. Due to _that_ nightmare which he swore he would never think about. In his life he had many nightmares, repeated reruns of the massacre were so normal… waking up and seeing his 7 year old self screaming at him for being so weak was just something he had been forced to accept as a part of his life.

But this nightmare, it was different. Itachi didn't kill the clan this time. Instead he saw him torturing Sakura – making her die a slow and painful death, taunting her all the while. Sasuke had come running. But she was dead. He was too late. And he fell to his knees crying over her broken bloody body. It was so hard to believe, that she was gone. He shook her body, screamed her name futilely desperately trying to wish it all away. Then Itachi transformed into _him, _Sasuke, and spoke "Don't you see? You killed her yourself."

Sasuke had woken up then drenched in cold sweat. One and a half hours of sleep. That was all he got that night.

Why was he even thinking anyways?

Agitated, he turned to address his team. "Keep on looking for her, I'm going to train."

That was the ideal solution. Training occupied his mind fully, gave him a much needed distraction from thinking about Sakura.

At long last Sakura made her decision. She would agree. Besides she could keep an eye on Sasuke that way; something she was sure Konoha would appreciate. But of course she needed more than that to agree to spend her time with a conceited prick. Being allowed to heal (which was more of a favour to _Itachi_) wasn't going to be enough to even tempt her. She voiced her thoughts. "You know, if I have to spend time with your unbearable little brother you've got give me more than that?"

Within minutes her solemn attitude had faded, Itachi was slightly startled. "What do you want?"

"Can I hug you?" It was an innocent enough request.

What on earth was going through the woman's mind? Out of a million things he was expecting that was not one of them. He raised his eyebrows.

Feeling a little sheepish, she explained "You see; I have a really weird ambition. I want to hug all the members of the Akatsuki and call them by a stupid nickname and somehow manage to get out alive. It was bet I made with Ino a long time ago when we were drunk. Now I know this dream will probably never be completely fulfilled but I want to get as close as I can to it. Obviously this is a golden opportunity."

Why was Itachi beginning to doubt her sanity? Still, considering all that he would gain a hug wouldn't do too much harm. Nodding uncertainly he answered "You may hug me."

She beamed. "Thank you, Ita-kun!"

And then she pounced on him and hugged him tightly.

It was possibly one of the most disorienting things he had experienced in his life. No one had hugged him since he was about 12 and no one had _ever _called him _**Ita-kun**_. He had gone for years with almost no physical contact. Thankfully she pulled back quickly.

"Anyway, now down to more important matters, how do you want to go about this?" she questioned. "I have to heal you in 3 sessions (your body won't be able to cope with doing it all in one go nor do I have the chakra reserves), one a week."

"We will arrange the future meetings at each healing session. In four days I and my partner will be leaving for the Mist. I expect you to start travelling two days before us so our departures appear to be unconnected. We will meet in a week's time in the alleyway by the restaurant in the village square."

Inclining her head in understanding she responded "That's fine by me," impressed by just how fast he had worked the details out.

She got up to pay the bill and he left.

It was Karin who spotted a pink haired, green eyed young woman walking down the street. The girl didn't have the chakra levels indicative of a ninja but she could easily be masking it or have naturally low chakra reserves.

"Hey you!" Karin called out. "Stop for a second!"

Unshaken, Sakura turned around. Despite recognising the red haired woman as part of Sasuke's team, she didn't worry. In fact she walked right up to Karin and smiled her sweetest smile enquiring in her politest way "Can I help you?"

This was definitely not kunoichi behaviour. She didn't even appear to have any weapons hidden under her civilian clothing But then again Sasuke did describe her to be quite pathetic… so maybe the Haruno Sakura really did act like some giggly teenage girl. "Are you Haruno Sakura?"

"Haruno…Sakura? Aw what a cute name!" Sakura took special care to giggle then. "Who is she?"

Karin's eyes narrowed. Hoping to gauge a reaction she said casually "I'm on Sasuke's team you know,"

The kunoichi showed no sigh of recognition at the name. "Who's the guy? Is he cute? Is he your boyfriend? Aw is this Haruno Sakura his ex or something that he's still dwelling on? Aww I feel sorry for you," she continued giggling.

Slowly Karin was becoming less and less convinced that there was even the smallest possibility that this woman was Haruno Sakura. As one last ditch attempt at just to make sure she withdrew a kunai and said "Stop playing games with me Haruno,"

Anybody would react to that.

"Oh my gosh, you're a creepy ninja woman! Wow, wait till I tell Michiko-chan I talked to a creepy ninja woman!" Sakura ran off before Karin could sense the natural chakra flare that occurred due to survival instincts.

Karin shook her head. That girl could not be the oh-so-great Haruno Sakura, Hokage's apprentice. She really must have imagined the chakra flare.

**A/N: Cry for me as I am going to fail my end of years. I was writing this today and yesterday instead of revising and my exams start on Monday…**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter is especially for Helen who somehow survived her exams AND stay in a somewhat good mood AND advise me. **

**And of course anyone who had exams recently (or will be having them). Again thank you to all reviewers, I love you all.**

Never in her life had Karin felt more afraid than she did now. The killing aura was coming off Sasuke wave upon wave, so thick that it filled the atmosphere and was positively suffocating.

"Are you completely stupid?" he hissed out as he swung his katana against a tree, slicing the trunk off completely. He took no pains to hide his thoughts; he would prefer to be slicing an actual person with it, namely her. "Do you not grasp the _basic_ concept of acting?"

"B-but she was completely civilian in her mannerisms and there seemed no possibility that she could be a kunoichi," poorly she tried to defend herself from his rage.

Suigetsu and Juugo watched her, feeling just a morsel of pity. Igniting Sasuke's wrath was a very dangerous thing to do indeed.

The man's Sharingan swirled. "Yeah but she happened to look _exactly_ like Haruno Sakura. How many people are there with pink hair and green eyes? You should have brought her to me."

At the moment he felt like grabbing the woman before him and ripping her to shreds. "You had the perfect opportunity. Thanks to your bloody incompetence, Itachi has more time to pursue her. What if he finds her before us? I am sure he is more astute than you are."

The sheer venom laced in Sasuke's tone made her shake. "S-Sasuke-sama –"

"Save it." He spat out with a frightening glare. "Do not make yourself a mere hindrance in my plans," his tone turned deadly. "I do not hesitate to destroy what gets in my way."

With his threat clear, he stalked off into the forest lest he change his mind about keeping Karin alive.

A small part of Karin was angry, angry that she, a loyal team mate, was being punished for a mistake because of Haruno Sakura. Why was Sasuke getting so worked up over _her_ anyway? Karin was the one who always stuck by his side while Sakura was clearly doing her utmost to avoid him. Why couldn't he appreciate her for once? It was not pleasant to be slighted by someone you admired.

Surprisingly, it was Suigetsu who made her feel slightly better. "Eh, I'd be scarred for life if I heard the Haruno giggle like that. I definitely wouldn't even try bringing a giggly schoolgirl back even if she was Haruno Sakura. You made her sound even worse than your voice. "

"Hey, what are you trying to imply?" Karin exclaimed indignantly.

"I'm implying that your voice is that of a banshee," he teased. To be honest all of Suigetsu's teasing was half-hearted. Really he just needed someone to talk to and Karin was the only one who responded even slightly albeit in an unkind way.

"So? At least I don't have white hair like an old man!" It was the best insult she could come up with.

"Ooh but my dear Karin, I see grey hairs already emerging,"

"You mean on your own head, right?"

They continued bickering till Sasuke was the last thing on her mind.

-0-

If there was one place Sakura hated it was Kirigakure. That accursed village in the Water Country was a place she liked to avoid whenever possible.

Firstly the name was 100% accurate. The village was hidden in the mist. Even at the best of times there was low visibility. She always had to squint just to see the way ahead and mainly got by using her other senses.

Secondly the practices they fully endorsed in that place! She accepted that all shinobi villages did a lot of dirty work and no one was completely innocent as she had first imagined but at Kiri… at Kiri the vilest of things ran rampant. Killing of team mates was perfectly alright if they were a nuisance.

Thirdly… need she a third reason? No she didn't. Put plain and simple she hated Kiri.

So it was understandably aggravating for her to have to venture to the Kiri now. Of course, she would have loved to refuse, but she doubted Itachi would have had the patience for her childish preferences and she didn't want to inconvenience him lest he change his mind.

So here she was; having arrived on the day Itachi and Kisame would be setting off. Now she would have to spend at least three days if not more in this damned place.

Still being out of the River country was rendered almost necessary. She could no longer stay with Sasuke hunting her down – that brush with Karin had been close enough. And if she ever encountered Sasuke, after her evading him for so long, she was certain that now he wouldn't be susceptible to her tactics. Sasuke was no fool.

-0-

Although not many people viewed him as such, Suigetsu was a perceptive person. Today he wondered what was special about that girl, Haruno Sakura. Normally the leader of Hebi handled everything with an air of nonchalance except when they were excruciatingly close to Uchiha Itachi. He was not cruel, nor kind to them – just expecting them to do as he asked. He cared little about much else but his revenge. He had never been so desperate to acquire something or someone that he would go out of his way to pursue it.

Then Haruno Sakura came along and changed his whole demeanour that Hebi had become accustomed to. Suddenly the young Uchiha began exuding emotion, negative for sure, but emotion that was alien to see from the man. Outbursts of anger and frustration – before being reserved for only Itachi – became a whole lot common to see in their lives.

That day at the forest… the day they had encountered Itachi's clone – Suigetsu caught something in Sasuke's voice. The tone he used when inquiring about Sakura, it could have been interpreted as worry. Certainly not all of his newfound motivation came from not letting Itachi have her; Suigetsu was sure that somewhere deep within, the boy was concerned for her wellbeing. Only that could explain his irrational behaviour when Itachi had said the blood wasn't his.

Provoking Sasuke with the discovery, however, was not an option. Suigetsu wasn't suicidal. At the moment he had better keep up his banter with Karin – who was really the only person he could have a conversation with. Juugo was far too serene for his liking.

-0-

"Why," Kisame growled out in displeasure. "Is Leader-sama sending us out on the _worst _missions these days?"

"You still dislike your former village," It was not even a question on Itachi's part. He just stated it blandly like it was a widely known fact.

"Dislike?" Kisame replied incredulously. "For that entire damned place is worth I never want to see it again."

They travelled in mostly silence.

"I have found a competent medic nin who has agreed to heal my body." It was best to let Kisame know at least half the story - absences would be seen as odd otherwise. Sneaking suspicions could be costly.

"Eh? I thought you didn't want to get your body healed," Kisame was fairly shocked at the new development.

"Up until now, I have always perceived my disease as incurable." That much was true. Even Tsunade when she was young had looked at him and declared the case impossible. It was a testament to Haruno Sakura's ability that she had managed to devise a form of treatment with only his poor quality medical files to go by.

"Who's the medic?" Kisame queried curiously. Very few people could have the skill to heal such a disease.

Itachi decided that it would be more beneficial to tell the truth rather than lie. "Haruno Sakura," he said without hesitation.

Confusion filled the blue skinned man's mind. "But isn't she a Konoha nin? On Sasuke's genin team? Shouldn't she hate you or something?"

"She owes me a debt." That was the simplest way to explain things. Kisame always knew him to be cryptic anyway so it wasn't odd on his behalf.

"Okay," It was pointless to question his partner further.

-0-

With an air of trepidation, Sakura set out from her hotel. She had remained in there for the great majority of the three days, due to her dislike of the village and the fact that she couldn't _do_ anything.

At least in Suna she could do help out in the hospital since Konoha and Suna were allies but in the Kiri she couldn't even do that.

It seemed forever, as three days mainly spent in one building doing nothing did. At last it was time for her to meet Itachi and relieve her interminable boredom.

She could only imagine what Sasuke would think of her if he read her thoughts. Or any sane person would think. Looking forward to meeting an S rank criminal! It was almost scandalous. Well she had done even worse. Just a few days ago she had hugged said S rank criminal and called him 'Ita-kun'. The sheer absurdity of it all made her want to laugh.

Thankfully Kirigakure was not completely unfamiliar terrain to her; she had had to do some missions in the past. When it came to the village square she could probably find it with her eyes closed. Not that she was going to try such a stunt – although the mist was serving as a rather good blindfold. It was a small comfort that everyone else probably felt the same way.

Using her navigation skills – Ino always claimed them to be mediocre but she, herself, took pride in them – she found the alleyway Itachi was referring to with ease. He had never given a time but the best time when unspecified was noon.

Itachi was already waiting for her with a hint of amusement on his features. "I expected you would arrive at noon, Sakura."

"If I had known you expected me to before, I would have turned up at midnight just to prove you wrong," she spoke slightly irritated. It was annoying how some people were always effortlessly right and what made it worse was they knew they were always right.

"That's why I didn't tell you. Humans hate to be informed of their predictability."

She muttered something unintelligible.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you plan to hold a healing session in an alleyway?"

She blushed in embarrassment as she realised. Her minor irritation had sidetracked her so much that she had completely forgotten the reason why they were there. Itachi gave her a knowing smirk.

Ugh, that damn Uchiha smirk! The one filled with so much arrogance that it was unbearable! And they had every reason to be arrogant as well! The man in front of her was less annoying when he was pretending to be an evil psycho, she firmly decided. Still mortified, she shook her head vehemently. "Of course not! So, your hotel room or mine?"

"I will ignore the many wrong connotations of that question," Itachi stated blandly.

"Just answer the damn question!" she hissed, reddening again.

"Yours would be preferred,"

"Fine then, follow me," And she raced off, knowing Itachi was behind her without even glancing back. Inwardly she was cursing at herself for acting like an idiot.

What she didn't expect, however, was Itachi to be in front of the building waiting for her. She scowled, beaten _again. _"How," she began fuming. "Did you manage to do that?"

"There are a limited number of hotels in Mist all of which I know the exact locations of. After your first few movements I was able to identify the hotel you were heading to. This meant that there was no need to follow you anymore and I could move at my natural pace." he explained in a monotone as if it was an easy feat to accomplish.

Sakura groaned. Damn genius was making her feel inept. "Lemme guess, within ten seconds upon entering the building you'll be able to discern the room number too."

"Depending on how much information you compromise,"

Still feeling a little sulky, she entered.

-0-

"God damn it, damn it all! Damn Itachi, damn Sakura! Just…" reigning in his temper was becoming harder and harder for the young man.

From experience his team backed away till there was a safe distance between them and Sasuke. Sasuke whilst in a temper tantrum did have a tendency to swing Kusanagi around wildly.

Onyx orbs threw a withering glare at the sole woman in Hebi. Regaining his composure he said "She's left River country from what I've deduced."

"To where?" Karin hesitantly inquired, slightly afraid he would snap her neck.

He growled. "How the fuck am I supposed to know?"

It was Juugo, the only one remotely calm who broke the deadly tension in the atmosphere. "Her few trails left suggest she was headed to the Mist."

"Why wasn't this information retrieved earlier?" he seethed bitterly. "Why the fuck are we still here when Itachi is hunting her?"

No one dared to say a word.

"Pack up now; we leave in ten minutes," It was a command, not to be contested. His tone ensured dire consequences for anyone who dare dispute it.

-0-

Much to Sakura's delight, Itachi hadn't managed to magically get into the room before her. She guessed he couldn't read minds after all.

"May I read your research first?" he politely requested. Through years of experience, he didn't just place his faith in anyone – too often it was misplaced. After all by allowing her to heal him, he was effectively placing his life in her hands; it was only right that he knew exactly what she was planning to do.

The woman happily complied and presented him with a rather large, battered folder filled with sheets of paper. Despite the rather messy outward appearance inside everything was neat and tidy – even colour coded notes for convenience.

Rapidly skimming through the pages he noticed how detailed it was. All the diagrams were so accurate that it was like she had taken an x ray rather than everything being based on scraps of information. It quickly became apparent that the woman was talented in medicine.

Once he had studied all of it he decided it was satisfactory enough for the healing to proceed. "I refuse to be numbed or unconscious throughout the healing."

That was a precautionary measure. He always had to be aware of his surroundings. If he was completely unconscious she could kill him and he wouldn't know any better.

"Ok, but don't complain about the pain," she submitted to his request.

Did she really think that he would complain? After all he had been through he had come out with an extremely high pain threshold. It was part of his conditioning to be the next Uchiha clan head, never to show weakness to anyone; then it was taken a step up at ANBU where he learnt how to keep his mouth shut through the worst of torture. Pain was something he was used to.

"I guess you know what I'm going to do today,"

"Today you plan to strengthen and prepare my system then at the next session you plan to do a removal of the drugs. At the final session you will fully heal me."

Her eyes widened a little. Not many could understand the complex procedure so well. She nodded her head in awe.

Before she even asked, he slipped off his Akatsuki cloak and blue top underneath revealing his well built torso.

Luckily Sakura was unaffected and no time was wasted in gaping at him; the kunoichi set straight to work. As he watched the gentle green glow radiate from her hands he silently wondered how much training she put into this. Medical ninjutsu was not an easy thing to master and required very precise chakra control that not many possessed and even fewer cultivated. One single lapse in control and you could kill a patient. Naturally only very few people used chakra to heal – it was considered a very valuable skill on the field. The woman before him had doubtlessly spent years training under Tsunade to be able to perform such things flawlessly.

He had learnt elementary medical ninjutsu through the Sharingan. He couldn't use it perfectly but enough to heal basic wounds. Few occasions arose that he needed utilise the techniques anyway but when living life as a criminal being self sufficient was necessary. Even he couldn't taken on a group of ANBU and come out completely unscathed.

Healing did come with the sting she warned him about – the pain wracked his body as the foreign chakra surged through him.

Almost invisible beads of sweat rolled down the young woman's forehead. Unblinkingly, despite all her exhaustion, she continued with the task. In spite of all the pain she knew the person in front of must be feeling – the human body never reacted well to unfamiliar chakra – he had not even winced once or expressed any discomfort. The man's lungs had been completely ravaged, strained by even the slightest things. Itachi's perpetual chakra shield must have taken a lot of effort to keep up. It was evident that when she found him he hadn't got much time left. To be able to mask all of that mess of his insides so well that no one would even notice that there was anything wrong with him showed so much talent. Then again he was a master of deceit. He had constructed an illusion so intricate that his little brother still lived in it. It hurt though… that he had no qualms in throwing away his life like that. How could a human just do that, just accept the elders' wishes and die like that?

"You planned to fight Sasuke in this state?" her voice was soft, almost a whisper. There was so much sadness within her tone; suddenly the confident woman seemed to turn into a fragile, breakable little girl.

Itachi was unsure of what to say to her. Still he never one known to be comforting and he had always been unsparing with the truth. So stiffly he replied "Yes."

It was the wrong answer. He saw all the ache in the woman's vibrant jade eyes almost glistening with hurt. He almost expected her to cry. But she just ploughed on with the task not once wavering. "Why?" she gently probed.

Flatly he stated "According to medics at Konoha my ailment was incurable. I had based all my plans around this fact."

Silence followed after and she continued working on him.

After what seemed a long time Sakura finally removed her hands from his person. Heaving a diminutive sigh of fatigue, she wiped the sweat of her forehead and gave a small, satisfied smile. "I'm done for today."

He got up and quickly put his shirt back on.

"In the gap between this and our next meeting please take less drugs than you usually would," She quietly ordered. "I will stay here tonight and depart to somewhere else in the morning."

He inclined his head in understanding, his mind already formulating a plan for their next meeting.

"Go to Amegakure," he said. "Once my partner and I have finished our business here it is likely that our leader will want us to report to him. Stay at the hotel near the water fountain and I will find you there within a week's time." Slipping off his forehead protector he continued "Take this and say you are there by my orders. The villagers are more likely to be cooperative and accepting of you."

She nodded, taking the forehead protector and placing it securely in her backpack. It was a well known fact that villagers idolised the Akatsuki at Ame. They viewed the leader as their saviour.

It was, travelling at a reasonable speed pausing in villages to sleep and eat, a journey of three days. At top speed it would be one and half. Seeing no need to hurry herself to much she realised that if she covered enough ground she could probably spend a day in Konoha as well. It was a seven hour boat ride to Fire Country then a day's travel till she reached Konoha. From Konoha to Ame it was another day. In her mind it would work out perfectly.

"Kisame would like to meet you." he said. The shark man had his suspicions as Itachi had never been inclined to get himself healed before.

"Wh-what? Why?" Sakura felt disconcerted. She had always been wary of Itachi's tall leering blue skinned partner.

"He is sceptical. It is best to settle his doubts before he reports to our leader that I disappear frequently after which I cannot guarantee your safety," he responded stoically.

Biting her lip she replied "Okay, I have to see him now?"

"Preferably."

Still perturbed she followed Itachi out of the hotel and was led to the restaurant and bar by the alleyway.

Trailing behind him she went inside where Kisame was sitting at a table, a glass of sake in hand.

"Kisame," Itachi spoke, "This is the medic, Haruno Sakura."

Shuffling her feet nervously, dithering on whether to stay or make a run for it, she nodded as if to confirm Itachi's statement.

Kisame gave her a toothy grin. "Aren't you a lil' traitor, healing the Uchiha? Guess not all Konoha nin are spineless after all."

Uncomfortably she answered "I have my reasons."

"Care to share?"

"He saved my life when I was a kid," if a little cliché it did make sense.

"So now you're returning the favour," the blue skinned man dipped his head in understanding.

Unable to bear the tension any longer she hastily bid her farewell. "I'll be leaving now."

She swiftly exited and dashed back to her hotel room. It was mainly an instinctual reaction more than anything. Unlike Itachi, Kisame was most likely not a good man and was extremely intimidating as well. Everything about him screamed 'dangerous'.

Exhausted, after packing up her bags she flopped down on the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning she wasted no time in setting out, relieved to be out of the village. Due to a slight delay – she found a group of orphans and couldn't just let them die – she ended up on the coast closer to midday.

She hired a boat and decided to row herself using her strength.

Thankfully the daunting grey clouds hovered quite docilely in the sky, deciding to spare her the storm. It was only mildly windy so she rowed with ease.

Despite journeying quickly, it was a rather relaxing activity. After all that had transpired she finally had some time to herself just to think. Heck she could even sing out loud with no care in the world although that might attract some attention. Only her boat seemed to grace the vast sea today – no one else took the time to venture out. It wasn't a main trade route as relations between Konoha and Kiri had always been tense so only black market dealers would use it.

Due to hours of strenuous training with Tsunade her arms didn't even ache after rowing for a few hours. The scenery was dull – there was nothing to see but the gloomy grey clouds unmoving in the sky or the waves controlled by the wind. And of course the thick, concealing blanket of mist covering where she had just left. She could hardly wait to see the greens of the forests she was so endeared to.

When the coast finally came into sight she actually laughed in joy. Putting more spirit into her rowing she picked up her pace and raced to the shore.

She scrambled out the boat and rushed off, eager to see her home again.

-0-

Sasuke was tearing through the forest at full speed. They had been delayed by three arrogant Konoha jounin trying to earn some extra income by capturing them. As they were jounin it was a difficult battle and Hebi had to waste some time in nursing the wounds.

He hadn't bothered with killing the jounin – he had no desire to get his bounty higher than it already was – and he had been exhausted,

It was then he spotted a lithe figure leaping through the trees with the grace of a gazelle just a way off heading the direction they had come.

Karin, sensing chakra almost immediately said "She's a kunoichi."

Sasuke briskly turned on his heel and chased after the figure.

-0-

Innately intuiting someone was after her, Sakura sped up. It wouldn't do to get caught now. Gut feeling told her that they were quite a few miles behind her so even if she stopped completely it would be a few minutes before they caught up. She knew that if she continuously ran, in all likelihood, she would wear out sooner than them because she had been rowing non-stop for seven hours.

Not hesitating for a moment she punched a crater in the ground then left a few exploding tags in all directions – arranged so that when they exploded they would erase her trail.

Then she performed a simple transformation jutsu and ran as fast as she could.

-0-

When Hebi arrived at the scene, Sasuke cursed violently. He was a little impressed, when did Sakura learn how to punch huge craters into the ground? Exploding tags had almost destroyed her trail.

"She could have gone in any direction, Sasuke-sama," Karin said.

"Heh we'll catch the Haruno in no time," Suigetsu tried to be optimistic. At least they were close to her.

Sasuke looked at the sight before him once again. If he just thought logically… there had to be a solution. He decided to go through the process of elimination. "She wouldn't have gone east because that's the direction she came from. Since it's clear she knows someone is pursuing her she would probably head straight to Konoha regardless of the distance. However if she feared exhaustion before she arrived at her target she would head south to the nearest village."

The rest of Hebi nodded, absorbing the information.

"We should split up. Karin and Suigetsu you go south, I and Juugo will go west." he ordered.

-0-

In actuality, Sakura went north – knowing the most obvious directions would be south and west.

The nearest place of rest, she couldn't risk sleeping outside, was a bit further than it would be had she gone south but it was still reachable. Plus, from the place's position, it would be quicker to reach Konoha.

Not feeling anyone still on her trail she decided to take a break. Dehydrated, she got out her bottle of water and drank it – despite her intense desire to slurp it down all in one go – slowly, savouring each sip. Rummaging through her bag, she found an apple and devoured it hungrily.

After taking a fifteen minute nap she got up again feeling refreshed and ready to sprint the rest of the distance to the small village she was heading to.

In a few hours she had arrived at the hamlet and rented a room at the inn. From here, travelling non-stop, it would be a four hour journey to Konoha.

Smiling, she was so close to her home now, she tucked herself in the bed and dozed off.

In six hours she awoke and after quickly showering and brushing her teeth she jumped out of the window and darted off to Konoha as fast as she possibly could.

-0-

"How," Sasuke bellowed out, his voice sending shivers down his team's spines with the sheer intensity of his volatile emotions, "Could she have escaped?"

No one dared to speak.

It was then Sasuke wondered; just how strong had the sole female of Team 7 become? He remembered Sakura, giggly and obsessed over him, but with a kind heart. She was the bubbly one in Team 7 – the only one who had escaped the brutality of life. He never thought she would make a good kunoichi, what motivation did she have? It was now he wished that he had actually stayed on and observed her progress.

Karin watched him as he lapsed into contemplative silence. It was at times like this she regretted admiring the young man in the first place, what was the use? When it came to Sakura, nothing short of death would make him give up on his search for the woman. She wasn't sure how Sasuke's mind worked but whatever strange emotion he was feeling it was _something_. Something he had never felt and probably would never feel for her.

"She must have reached the village then, she'll be safe there," At his sudden realisation, a foreign sense of relief flooded Sasuke like he was in the eye of a hurricane – a momentary peace filled with a foreboding of what was yet to come.

-0-

Sakura felt the warm gentle breeze fan her face as she walked through the gates of her beloved village. Sunlight peered through all the tall trees and buildings gracing the weather worn path with its glorious light.

The path that led many into Konoha and led many out. Sasuke turned his back on all of them on this path. Her eyes darkened a little as she remembered that night – the night where she had confessed her undying love and he had just walked away with the cryptic words of 'Thank you'.

After he had left she had spent long amounts of time dwelling on what he could have possibly meant. In the end she just discarded those kinds of thoughts and focused herself on training. But at times she still wondered that maybe if she hadn't met him that night, hadn't been confronted with the realisation of him leaving, then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much.

Brushing off such contemplations, she flashed an exultant smile to anybody happening to pass by and those who knew her smiled back. Euphoria filled her as she walked on the familiar ground – she hadn't realised just how much she missed the place.

"Nice to see you again, Sakura-san," Izumo and Kotetsu, Tsunade's paperwork carriers, greeted her.

Grinning she replied "Nice to see you too!" with vigour.

As it happened the next person she encountered was Kakashi who was returning from the Hokage tower. "Kakashi-sensei!" she exclaimed ecstatically and immediately flung her arms around him.

Disentangling himself from her looking a little disgruntled at the contact, he chuckled fondly. "Sakura,"

She and Naruto _still _called him sensei even though they were probably his equals now.

Suddenly he realised that if Sakura had arrived in Konoha – knowing her mission – it probably meant urgent news that endangered the village. Frowning slightly he asked, not really wanting to know the answer, "What's the bad news?"

She laughed. "Nothing sensei, I'm just spending a day because it's on my way,"

Relaxing, the tension on his face disappeared. "Thank God Naruto is here then. If he was out on a mission when you came to visit he'd be whining for weeks on end and no one would get a moment's peace."

"Na, he has Hinata to keep him happy now," she responded chortling. It was Ino's and her final accomplishment: Operation Matchmaking, Naruto and Hinata. The couple needed outside interference – otherwise the pair would have grown old and Naruto still wouldn't have figured it out. "I don't envy her either, Lord knows she has her hands full."

Nodding in agreement he said "Well I won't keep you, I'm sure you want to report to the Hokage quickly then spend time with your friends – you only have a day after all."

Grimacing she said "I'm sure she won't appreciate me at this time in the morning but oh well,"

In high spirits, the pink haired kunoichi almost skipped the rest of the way to the tower.

Shizune gave her a welcoming smile and led her to Tsunade obligingly.

As soon as Sakura walked in, her shishou barked out in her typical manner "What is it now?" her head down on the table.

Feeling a little sheepish Sakura answered "Heh, heh, it's just me shishou,"

Almost instantly the blonde haired woman bolted upright. "Sakura? What is it? What's going to happen?" assuming like Kakashi had that there was bad news.

"I'm just dropping by as it's on my way to my next location," Sakura explained quickly.

Amber eyes turned angry. "You mean to say," the Godaime growled out. "_That you woke me up at 8:00am in the morning with __**nothing**__ that could not have waited?"_

Nod.

"Out!" the woman snarled.

Sensibly Sakura sprinted out closing the door behind her.

Only then did it dawn upon the blonde that she hadn't asked Sakura for her Akatsuki activity report. She called out "Oy! Come back here!"

The pink haired woman returned and briefly filled the female Hokage in on the most recent things she knew of excluding her involvement.

After exiting the building, she sought out Ino to catch up on all the latest happenings in Konoha. Who didn't like a good bit of gossip now and then? It took virtually five seconds for her and Ino to cross paths. Call it telepathy.

"Forehead girl!" Ino squealed and pulled her into a crushing hug.

"Ino pig," she responded light-heartedly as she removed herself from the embrace. "I was hoping your features would have grown less pig like in my absence."

"Well your forehead hasn't gotten any smaller," her friend teased back.

Falling into step with the blonde haired, fashionable woman Sakura said "What's up in Konoha?"

"Well my dear team mate Shika and Temari have finally gotten together,"

"Heh, I heard that one from Temari herself when she was on a mission nearby me. So what about your life?" she knew Ino had had a mild interest in Shikamaru around the time she had left.

Trying her best to be unaffected, Ino answered "I'm just flirting at the moment, I guess. Being single has more freedom I think,"

"You got that right!" Sakura said; glad Ino was not moping around.

The pair stopped outside a barbeque restaurant. "I'd love to spend more time with you but we have a Team 10 lunch,"

"That's okay, we can catch up later," the pink haired woman replied. "I guess… I better see my mother," She made a brave grimace, "Though I'm not sure if she'll want to see me"

Sakura's relationship with her mother had been strained from the day she enrolled in the Academy. It was unthinkable that her little girl would be risking her life on a regular basis, be away from home for extended amounts of time. At first her mother would conceal it, even try support the young girl, because she thought the obsession with becoming a ninja would fade away. But as it became apparent that Sakura had no intention of stopping the fights started occurring. The day she took the Chuunin Exams there was a ferocious row and she just walked out of the house slamming the door behind her and didn't come back until all the exams had finished.

Dinners were always tense affairs under her mother's disapproving gaze, like a looming storm cloud threatening a tempest at any moment.

Her father stayed out of it mostly, favouring neither Sakura nor her mother. Only when her mother wasn't around did the man offer his daughter some encouragement for her choice in career.

At the age of 16, Sakura moved out visiting her family as little as once a week.

The day when she announced her prolonged mission to track the Akatsuki her mother was completely horrified. Sakura had walked out not even on speaking terms with the older woman.

Sometime during her absence, her father had died. She was not heartless, she had been genuinely sorrowful when she heard the news. She had mourned, shed many tears over his decease.

But she couldn't attend the funeral. That, in her mother's eyes, was an unforgivable act.

Ino snapped her out of her thoughts. "She misses you," the blue eyed woman said softly.

Still hesitant she said "I guess," almost disbelievingly.

The friends parted ways.

Sakura looked at the door in front of her, contemplating on whether she should knock it or not. A part of her didn't want to face her mother, terrified of what her opinion would be.

But it was her duty as a child she guessed so, shaking, her hand unsteady, she knocked.

The door opened and she came face to face with an aged woman, hair once a lively red now jaded and lifeless with many strands of grey bending in. A shining face was now wrinkled, her green eyes sparkled no longer and she seemed to be awaiting death.

"Kaa-san," Sakura greeted stiffly.

Slap. "You are no child of mine," the woman hissed out.

There was so much hatred in her mother's eyes, so similar to Sakura's own, that Sakura felt something flare up in her too. She glared stubbornly trying to conceal her hurt at the harsh words. It stung.

Suddenly the hate receded and was replaced with a polite form of detachment. "Would you like to have lunch with me?" it was a civil invitation, not affectionate.

"That would be lovely" Sakura responded with the same courteous reserve.

She stepped in and took her shoes off. It had been so long since she had set foot in this house. There used to be happy memories, when she was still a young child, but now all that was left was the endless feeling of imprisonment and restriction.

Lunch was like the so many dinners they had a long time ago. A volcano of tension ready to erupt. They ate in silence.

On occasion her mother muttered cruel words and Sakura clenched her fists doing her best not to react to them. She didn't want to leave on bad terms again. As soon as she finished eating she got up and thanked her mother like she would thank a friend.

It was only when walking out the door she sadly smiled and said "You'll never accept me, will you?"

Sakura never heard an answer. It hurt that her own mother didn't consider her as her child anymore. All she wanted was for her mother to accept her and the choices she had made, to love her once again.

She went on slightly dejected. _'Maybe I'll write her a note or something'_ she thought. Before she left she would have liked to make amends but it seemed that that was not possible.

It was Ino who found her again. "Hey," the woman sensing her friend was down slung an arm over her shoulder comfortingly.

"Hey," Sakura attempted a smile but failed.

"I guess that didn't go too well," Ino said softly.

"It could have been worse, at least this time my mum's favourite china didn't end up broken," he voice was strained, trembling; it was taking her best efforts not to just break down and _cry_. "I-I just want her to _accept _me."

And at that moment Ino saw all of Sakura's insecurities resurface in full force.

She began shaking violently still trying to suppress her tears."Sometimes I wonder if what I'm doing is right and all I want to know is that someone there loves me no matter what I've done. I just want someone to console me…"

Ino watched her friend crumble, at a loss on what to do. So she let the woman before her just cry and spill her emotions out, occasionally offering words of reassurance.

When Sakura's sobs quieted down a little Ino spoke up in an endeavour to cheer her friend up. "You remember our stupid bet we made when we were drunk?"

Sakura gave a teary giggle. "Yeah, about that… I managed to hug Itachi…"

"What?" Ino exclaimed.

"I was pretending to be a waitress and he came in. I promptly squealed 'Ita-kun!' and flung my arms around him. The look on his face!" Sakura laughed now. She had to edit a few details as Ino couldn't know the true circumstances but it was essentially true.

"Haruno Sakura, you never cease to amaze me," Ino shook her head in awe.

Getting up, Sakura moved to leave "I better go find Naruto now, see you around,"

Ino called out goodbye as the female wandered off.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait.**

Sakura discovered Naruto fairly easily – the blonde was at Ichiraku's finishing off a bowl of ramen. Her other team mates, Kakashi, Sai and Yamato were turning to leave and go their separate ways.

"Hey! Wait!" she called out, quickening her footsteps.

The group stopped and turned around. Naruto looked up from his ramen.

"Sakura-channnnnnnnn!" the blonde man exclaimed happily, leaping up and hugging her tightly.

"Can't breathe," she gasped out, chortling a little. Naruto would always be Naruto.

Releasing her from his tight embrace he rubbed the back of his head, feeling sheepish "Heh, heh sorry Sakura-chan."

"You're still as ugly as ever," Sai supplied with a fake smile.

Sakura gritted her teeth and tried to remember all she had learned about anger management. 'Inhale, exhale' she thought mentally to no avail. Finally she decided, to hell with controlling her temper and punched Sai channelling all her anger in her fist. Needless to say, Sai went flying and definitely would sport a bruise later.

"Ah, that felt good," she chirped merrily. It had been so long since she could punch someone like that.

Naruto trembled. He had forgotten how scary Sakura could be at times.

"Good to see you again, Sakura," Yamato greeted.

"You too Yamato-taichou," she replied easily. This was the kind of atmosphere she adored, being with all her boys without a care in the world.

Kakashi just nodded.

"Sakura-chan, come have lunch with us!" the excitement was evident in the man's ocean blue eyes.

The grey haired sensei sweat dropped. "Naruto… we just ate,"

Naruto pouted.

Sakura sighed "Look I'll pay the bill for now and we can eat dinner together,"

Almost instantly he lightened up. "Really?"

"If you're paying for dinner!" she said elbowing him in a friendly way.

"No fair, Sakura-chan!"

She gave a bright grin. "I'm only offering once, take it or leave it."

Resigned to his fate of paying for dinner he replied "Ok,"

Now that was sorted out, her grin grew even wider. Long absences did have their benefits. Usually Naruto always managed to wheedle his way out of paying somehow."So? Team training?" she suggested or rather ordered in the guise of a request. Her face promised pain for anyone who dared to object.

The trio of males followed her lead to the training ground.

-0-

Sasuke paced about restlessly. He hated that at the moment he was powerless to just reach out and snatch Sakura. He couldn't do anything just lingering here outside the reach of ANBU patrols. Hebi had already suffered the misfortune of encountering one because of a miscalculation of the distance to Konoha. They were his former classmates Neji and Shikamaru. He hadn't killed them because he didn't want to add to his criminal record unnecessarily, he definitely felt no familiarity with them. At least when Sakura was out in the open they could track her, chase her… at least they were doing something. He would kill just to enter Konoha and grab her but he couldn't risk that. If he were discovered he'd be trapped in Konoha for the rest of his life most likely. It was too easy to draw attention to himself; he just had that kind of aura which nobody could be unaware of. And Sakura wouldn't come willingly. He wondered if that was what bothered him the most.

"_If you can't stay take me with you!"_

He could still hear her pleading voice, still see her tears. He even remembered his exact thoughts: 'Was she crazy? Asking to go to Oto with him, did she have any idea what she was saying?' Now he had entirely different concerns. Were those words empty? Did she only say them because she knew he wouldn't even consider taking her?

He clenched his fists at the thought. They weren't empty, they couldn't be. There had to be a valid reason she was staying away from him, she loved him.

Why he cared so much, he couldn't even begin to fathom.

How long would she stay in Konoha though? It wouldn't do at all if her stay held any degree of permanence. Perhaps her assignment, whatever it was, was finished now.

Even Hebi, no matter how talented they were, couldn't sneak past ANBU patrols.

That irked him somewhat. Itachi had been an ANBU once; he'd know how all the patrols went even if with minor changes. He had been able to make an appearance so many years ago, hadn't he?

"We wait here a week, if she doesn't leave Konoha by then we begin hunting Itachi down," he firmly ordered although a part of him would much rather wait forever until Sakura showed up.

-0-

Sakura was all set to spar with Sai when Shizune rushed to the training ground.

"Sakura! There's an emergency! A patrol squad have returned severely injured!"

Sakura didn't have to be told twice. Not asking a single question she raced towards the hospital, straight to the intensive care unit. She entered the room she'd been told to by the nurse and saw the mangled body of Hyuuga Neji.

She wasted no time in getting started, quickly checking for poison then cleaning up his wounds. Channelling chakra to her palms, she began doing surgery. It took a while but eventually the man stabilised.

Just as he seemed to be returning to consciousness, the rest of Team Gai burst in.

"Is he alright?" both Lee and Tenten asked frantically.

"Yes," Sakura answered wearily, "He'll be conscious soon if you want to talk to him. I need to see how the others are doing now,"

She left the team to themselves, feeling like an intruder. Shizune might want help with the other person in critical condition anyway. Drained, Sakura headed towards the room at the end of the hallway.

Opening the door she saw Shikamaru sitting upright with bandages around his torso and right arm but otherwise looking okay.

"Who attacked you?" she queried curiously.

"That is classified until I've reported it to the Hokage," Shikamaru replied. "Our squad split up for a while so it was only Neji and I attacked, the rest are fine I believe."

"Ah that explains why the two of you were so severely injured. They must have been fairly strong opponents," she conversed with him hoping to pry a little more out.

"How's Neji?" he asked seriously.

She raised an eyebrow. "If he wasn't fine, would I be chatting with you right now?"

The man let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to know."

"Some of Neji's wounds came from a sword," she really hoped he'd feel obliged to tell her more about the wounds. "And judging from your bandages I think some of yours did too,"

"Well two of them were did carry around swords," he remarked. Then he realised his mistake, he had told her a little about the attackers. Still there wasn't enough to form a definite conclusion he prayed. He smirked a little, "I know what you're trying to do, Sakura," he warned.

She acted innocent, pouting a little. "What?"

"You're trying to coax me into telling you who the attackers were,"

"Okay you got me," she said defeated.

"You do have a knack for getting people to tell you things…" his voice trailed off. He was quite sure that if she had remained in Konoha for a little longer before she'd be asked to become an interrogator whether she liked it or not. He had witnessed plenty of discussions revolving around her and her ability to get to people. The only problem was whether she had the mental strength to resort to torture when she was a naturally compassionate person. Personally, Shikamaru thought the woman would never be able to handle it. Very few people could be gotten through to just by talk. The moment you became jounin or were invited into the ANBU you were given special training where you learnt how to keep your mouth shut. Knowing the difficulty of that training he knew being an interrogator could never be an easy job much less a job for someone who had spent years learning how to heal people.

His thoughts were interrupted by Sakura's voice "Well I'll be leaving now, nice to see you." she waved as she ambled out the door.

As she was walking to Ichiraku she pondered on the little information she had been given. Two were swordsmen and there were obviously more than two. There couldn't be too many more people otherwise it would be impossible for Neji and Shikamaru to get out alive. Based on their injuries, they were fairly skilful opponents yet were holding back. Could it be…? Her pulse quickened. Sasuke's team?

They wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves so close to Konoha so it made sense. But there were plenty of other rogue nin the attackers could have been. She was probably just over thinking in her unease.

"Sakura-chan, you made it!" a certain hyperactive blonde ninja called out.

The rest of Team Kakashi had already arrived.

Worn out, the girl still managed to smile and tiredly greeted them all.

-0-

"Hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke is actively searching for Sakura-san," Neji stated tersely.

"For what reasons?" Tsunade enquired trying to control her voice. How dare the Uchiha traitor go after her apprentice?

"His motives remain unclear," the long haired man bit out, doing his best to keep calm. His sentiments were the same as Tsunade's; the Uchiha didn't have a right. Despite not knowing the full details Sakura's feelings about Sasuke as she was never disposed to discuss them after the boy's departure, he saw what his absence did to the girl. There had been a time where Sakura would have been willing to do anything for the boy but now that point in her life had passed. "Judging from his words, Sakura is aware he is after her,"

The woman let out a breath of relief. That was good. That meant that if Sakura actually wanted to join him she would have done so already. Her loyalty was still with Konoha.

"Since there are four of them stationed at different points around Konoha, it will be impossible for Sakura to avoid capture if she goes alone,"

Amber eyes narrowed. "Shikamaru is conscious, isn't he?"

"Yes Hokage-sama,"

"Can you walk?" she asked.

"Hai, Sakura-san healed me well,"

The Godaime smugly smirked at the praise of her apprentice, her apprentice who was now even more skilled than she was. "Good, then it's time to consult Shikamaru on the best exit strategy for the girl,"

Shikamaru, having fought side by side with Neji, was already aware of the problem. "It's rather troublesome. The first plan in mind would be just to retrieve Sasuke but that operation would take a lot more advanced preparation and Sakura has to leave early tomorrow. I think the best course of action would be to send some jounin with her until she's reasonably ahead of his group. Sasuke wouldn't attack as I'm sure his team are weakened as well. The earlier she leaves the better, in this instance."

"What about after that? What about Hebi?" The Hokage questioned. It would be good to capture them while they were this close.

"We can't spare enough people to take on all four of them. Let them tail after Sakura, at least that way we'll have a rough idea of their positioning."

Tsunade growled in disapproval, but could see the logic in his proposition. "Shizune!" she barked, "Go get Sakura!"

-0-

Warm. If there was one word that could describe exactly how Sakura felt right now then this was it: warm. Surrounded by her _family, _the people who she knew would always be there by her side, in the comfortable atmosphere of Ichiraku's; it would be sinful to say that she was not experiencing pure utter bliss.

The boiling hot ramen in front of her never smelled better, in fact the fragrance was almost heavenly. Almost. She was no Naruto yet.

She had of course had ramen a couple of times on her travels but the taste of ramen for Ichiraku's… well it was totally different. It made her happy.

Gulping it down, savouring each moment, laughing as they reminisced old times; nothing could possibly be better.

Shizune watched the younger woman, not really wanting to interrupt her dinner. Sakura looked so at ease, for once without a frown on her face. Generally only seeing the girl in hospital, her untroubled expression was something new.

Sakura's team never ceased to amaze her. The team were like stars in a constellation – all individually shining but when together even more beautiful. The perfect harmony in which they worked in, the sense of belonging they all had… it was something seen in very few teams. Even if a member disappeared for years, Shizune had a feeling that the moment they came back they'd fit right in again. How such strong bonds were forged when it seemed all they could do was bicker confounded the woman thoroughly.

She approached Sakura reluctantly, inwardly still wanting to observe the interaction. "Sakura-chan, the Hokage wants you."

"Eh?" Sakura was perplexed. "Why?"

The black haired woman hesitated, glancing at the company. If Sakura was in danger, it was evident Naruto would explode and demand to go with her. If Naruto got the gist of Sasuke… "There's a little complication with a patient at hospital."

Sensing the other female was holding back, she nodded and replied "Oh, okay," without pestering Shizune for details and followed her lead without a word.

Once they had arrived at the hospital room where Shikamaru was, Tsunade explained that the pink haired woman had to be escorted out by a group of jounins.

At first Sakura angrily crossed her arms over her chest and retorted "I don't need to be babysat!"

All those in the room were quite taken aback. Normally, Sakura had good judgment and didn't let her emotions guide her when it came to missions. She was the most sensible when it came to following orders, however reluctantly, she accepted them and got others to do the same. It was one of the reasons why she used to be highly demanded for by many ANBU squads as their medic.

Unyielding, the kunoichi stood still glaring at everyone who she suspected had a part in formulating the plan. This was, basically, everyone in the room. The sudden spark of defiance astonished her slightly as well – maybe it came from surviving independently for so long, almost completely unburdened by any sort of higher authority. Or perhaps it emerged from the fact that it was going to be _Sasuke_ watching her. After all everything she did, it had been based on impressing Sasuke. Even now, she wanted to impress him, to show him that she had become strong. It was an unpleasant truth that she fervently denied, even inside her own mind… but everything still revolved around _him_.

"Sakura-san, this is not an insult to your strength," Neji attempted to reason with her, his eyes narrowed.

"Then what is it?" she challenged, "From what I can tell, you are saying that I can't fend for myself –as I have done for many months – and evade four injured shinobi."

"Only two of them were actually injured, Sakura," Shikamaru automatically corrected, "The female appeared to be conserving her chakra for healing and the other one stayed out of the fight mostly,"

"Well Karin must be chakra depleted then so only one of them will be in a reasonably well state," she said coolly then did a double take, "Wait, if the redhead's a healer why does he want me?"

"We have no idea and it doesn't matter because _the brat will not get you_," the last words spoken by the Hokage were an ominous snarl.

"Of course he won't, because _I_ am _perfectly capable_ of eluding him myself" Sakura replied, bringing them all back to the initial topic of discussion, clearly showing no signs of backing down.

Neji gritted his teeth. "No matter how talented you are, can you take on four skilled shinobi in combat if it came to that?"

Sakura bit her lip. As much as she loathed admitting it, he was right. "I could go in disguise, it's worked before," she feebly endeavoured to convince the rest in the room to let her go alone.

The Hyuuga snorted in disbelief. "Even the Uchiha isn't _that _foolish."

"Okay, okay you can send some jounins to baby sit me," Sakura sighed, beaten. Then she added with a slightly cocky smirk, "As long as they can keep up,"

Her eyes glinted with somewhat sadistic amusement, promising that whoever was on the squad was going to suffer.

At times like this, Tsunade wondered why she ever agreed to take the girl as her apprentice. "Well then we have to sort out a team for you, quickly,"

Since it was a relatively quick assignment, that would not involve any confrontation unless Hebi were suicidal, the Godaime supposed she could spare the manpower. "Shikamaru, form the best team you can out of everyone currently in this village," the blonde directed, tossing a list of available people.

The man with pineapple shaped hair grunted something distinctly akin to 'troublesome'. "Can I use Neji? After all this will not involve combat if the group is formidable enough. He knows the exact positioning of Hebi and his Byakugan will be most beneficial."

Tsunade nodded.

"Neji, Kakashi, Shino and Yamato would be the best for this task," Shikamaru said, "Since Sasuke is somewhat familiar with their skills he will not risk confrontation."

"The risk posed by familiarity, however, is that Sasuke can be provoked to act impulsively," Sakura steadily responded, despite knowing herself that the formation was as brilliant as it could be. Debating with Shikamaru on strategy had been one of the reasons that made visiting the Hokage tower worth it.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What could provoke him?"

"His opponent being fully recovered while he himself is still recuperating," she answered, glancing at Neji, "Perhaps it could appear that we are challenging him, in which circumstance, due to his male Uchiha ego he would most certainly attack us," her voice had taken on a teasing tone towards the end.

"I am sure, Sakura," Shikamaru said amused, "I am sure."

"Anyway time is our greatest ally here. The quicker we mobilise the less time Hebi will have to regain their strength. Sakura go rest for four hours, Shizune brief all the shinobi mentioned." Tsunade commanded in her usual gruff manner.

Relaxed, seeing no reason for haste, Sakura strolled out of the hospital to greet the sight of Naruto patiently waiting.

That was one thing she loved about Naruto. He was always there. Whenever she wanted company, he would be there for her, somehow sensing she needed it. No matter how vulnerable she felt in front of Naruto, she _knew_ he would never consider her weak. His irrational faith in her had given her faith in herself.

"So what was that about?" he asked as the pinkette easily fell into step with him.

"There was a little issue with someone's medication," she replied as much; as she detested lying to Naruto it was unfortunately necessary.

"Oh, okay," Naruto didn't press for details, knowing full well he wouldn't understand a word of the complex medical terms that Sakura could spout out on occasion.

"I have to leave tonight apparently, so goodbye I guess," she frowned, showing her distaste at the idea.

Naruto made a face. "So soon? We hardly spent any time together." he whined.

"It's border politics _again_," Sakura was referring to constant disputes on border patrols hindering shinobi and who owned what near the borders.

"Ah."

"Well take care, don't infuriate Tsunade-shishou too much, and become closer to your dreams and all that jazz. I'll drop by soon hopefully," she bid her farewell and turned to start walking down the street.

"Come back soon Sakura-chan!" he called out. It wasn't that he didn't care; it was just that he had nothing to worry about. He had no doubt that Sakura could handle herself perfectly fine in the world and she was sensible when it came to taking risks.

Her apartment had grown cold and dusty in its neglect. Still it held the familiar scent of home, a sanctuary in which she could be herself. She kicked off her shoes and flopped down on her couch rather than making her way to her bedroom, not bothering to clean up because she would be leaving in four hours anyway. It was more of an extended nap than actual sleep.

As it happened, she awoke one hour earlier than she would have liked to, perhaps due to the fact that she was so used to being conscious in the later hours of an evening, the main time she did any major activity. Getting up, the kunoichi decided to shower and pack up some new clothes as the majority of the ones in her backpack were bloodstained, ripped and had an irremovable stench.

For the civilian persona she put up, particularly that of a civilian teenage girl, she needed _clean_ clothes.

Once she had freshened up, to kill time she sharpened and polished her kunai, shuriken and even her senbon –once she started tidying she was prone to be become slightly obsessive – then poisoned a few.

Rejuvenated in every way, Sakura started walking to the gates of Konoha where only Neji waited.

"Hey," she greeted with subtle energy.

He dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"Who do you think will be the last to arrive?" she asked, wanting to initiate a conversation.

Neji frowned, contemplating the possibilities. Kakashi would be his first bet but that was far too obvious. After all, as a ninja, he had been taught to 'expect the unexpected'. Shino he could already sense approaching so it was unlikely that the man would be last. Yamato was a jounin and ANBU; he could easily get caught up in something. Finally Neji answered "Yamato."

"Really? I think Kakashi," she paused for a moment before delivering her justification as Shino emerged, "The latest Icha Icha was released this morning, wasn't it?"

Neji was mildly impressed by how up to date the woman was.

"So anyway," she continued, not noticing two chakra signatures drawing nearer, "Kakashi-sensei is probably in bed, caught up in reading _that_," her nose wrinkled up in disdain at the notion.

"They're coming now," the long haired man impassively stated.

"They? Ooh, this will be cut close but I still bet Kakashi-sensei!" she stood up on her toes , craning her neck to see the pair that was moving towards the group, her eyes bright with childlike anticipation.

"Yamato," he said with a roll of his eyes as if it was obvious; despite his usual mature demeanour he participated in her small amusement.

"No way, it's _definitely_ Kakashi!" she retorted in her typical impassioned way.

Silently, Neji observed her. The way she acted, it was… captivating. How she switched between being a professional kunoichi to being an emotional, expressive human. How, after all she had seen in her career, she could still find it within her to believe in others. How she could easily disarm even firmest of ninjas, make them drop their ever present guard and get them to feel comfortable around her. It could be an extremely dangerous weapon if she wanted to use it as such. But Sakura would be horrified at the mere concept of doing such a thing. And if the trait was rendered just another tool for what dirt shinobi do then it would lose all its beguiling magic.

Due to the fact Kakashi walked at a quicker pace than his brunette companion, Yamato was technically last.

Whilst Sakura pouted and folded her arms grumpily, Neji smirked in triumph.

"My, my, a lovers' quarrel?" Kakashi spoke amused.

Sakura blushed and then responded "You know Neji and I are just friends,"

"Ah but my dear Sakura-chan old feelings can resurface," Kakashi said it casually but Sakura caught an underlying solemnity referring to someone very different to Neji.

"Not when they weren't there in the first instance, sensei," the pink haired woman replied, maintaining the light-hearted mood of the discourse deliberately and steered well clear of the actual person her grey haired teacher was talking about.

Neji grunted his consensus. Both he and Sakura had mistaken familiarity, responsibility and friendship for something more. Really there were no sparks between them and eventually they mutually agreed that they were better off apart.

Most people, excluding their best friends, couldn't comprehend why they had broken up especially since they appeared to be exceptionally close to each other. To them, after all they had gone through; it was only natural to be trusting of each other. In A rank or B rank missions they had entrusted their lives with each other, bled in each other's arms, witnessed horrendous scenes together, seen each other at their most vulnerable. After that, how could they not trust?

"Well, let's go!" Sakura broke the silence with her eagerness written on her face.

'Guess she really has gotten used to the traveller's lifestyle,' Kakashi mused. 'If she had to stick around in one place for more than a week she'd probably find it stuffy now'. If someone had told him this is what his student would be doing when he first met her he would have laughed and called the person completely delusional. Even after her long training with Tsunade he still viewed her as someone home-based, her almost dwelling in the hospital as a medic only served to emphasise his opinion. She was not the person he'd take to have no permanent place of residence. Inside, he knew, he still viewed her as a child.

Unaware of Kakashi's reflections, the kunoichi explained how they would move, however, not displaying her reasoning as she found it rather basic to understand "Neji is lead, I'm travelling diagonally left to him, Yamato-taichou, Kakashi-sensei, Shino stay ten steps behind me at all times and form a horizontal line from left to right, going: Shino, Kakashi, Yamato."

"You call me taichou, yet you order me around," Yamato commented, a little teasingly, "Don't forget, we are all technically your seniors."

"Ranking doesn't show talent," she replied easily, not taking the comment to heart, "Naruto is our shining example."

On those words they set off in a reasonably relaxed mood.

-0-

Clenching his fists, Sasuke observed the scene. There was Sakura merrily chortling at something _Neji_ had said. Of all people, she was laughing with the stiff reserved Hyuuga.

Neji. The name had suddenly become exceptionally acidic on his tongue, like venom.

Whilst he had had to resort to the crude, unsophisticated method of biting someone's arm – and the look on Karin's face had made him feel nauseous – Neji had gotten professionally healed by Sakura's hands. Healed so well that the coffee haired man was able to be up and about in less than a day.

And it was wrong. For Sakura's abilities were supposed to be his and his alone.

He fought the fierce urge to growl.

Sakura stood there, so tantalisingly close yet he still couldn't steal her away.

"So where are we, Neji?" her voice rang out through the forest, cutting right through the raven haired man's incensed thoughts.

"In relation to the position of Sasuke or another Hebi member we are nearby," the loathsome man replied, "I believe it is Sasuke as he has executed a very complex genjutsu in order to conceal himself that, in all likelihood, requires the Sharingan."

"How do you know he's here then?" she enquired

"This place has a higher chakra level than what it should be."

She vaguely recalled suggesting calculating what an area's natural chakra level should be to Neji a fairly long time ago when on a mission.

As the pale eyed man watched her remember, he smiled somewhat. "It's now on the Academy curriculum,"

"Seriously? You told the Hokage about it in my absence?"

He nodded in affirmation.

Sasuke watched, his eyes narrowed. What was Hyuuga attempting to achieve? In his dark eyes, Sakura was too naïve, too trusting and Neji was taking advantage of it. The man definitely had an ulterior motive.

It wasn't that he was concerned about Sakura at all, he told himself. He just needed her unharmed as she was going to be _his_ medic.

Nor did he feel any jealousy towards Neji (what was there to be jealous of? That the Hyuuga got healed by someone who was rightfully Sasuke's medic?).

"So you're certain he's in this area?" once again Sakura's voice interrupted his frustrated contemplations.

"Yes," the man who was gradually working his way up Sasuke's hit list answered smoothly.

'Run,' Sasuke thought, 'Incapacitate the damned Hyuuga and come to me,'

No such thing happened, however.

"So this is where we part then Neji,"

"After the rest arrive,"

"I'll miss you," she said, already appearing slightly glum at the concept.

The tomoe of the Sharingan swirled. 'It doesn't matter' he told himself almost viciously, _'she _cried_ over me. I'd like to see Hyuuga be able to claim that.'_

To Sasuke's displeasure, she moved in to hug Neji_. 'So? She hugged me more times in our genin days than I care to count.' _He smirked a little in spite of himself.

The only reason he was getting so worked up over such a trivial matter that truly was beneath him was because he needed to ensure Sakura was free from distraction. And an attraction towards a pathetic shinobi who couldn't even fend for himself when put up against Sasuke was a distraction. How could she concentrate on Sasuke if she was worrying over Neji? Distractions would make her weaker and he could not, would not accept that.

Neji awkwardly reciprocated the girl's action.

Chuckling, Kakashi arrived upon the scene, along with Yamato and Shino. "See? I did say there were still feelings between you two."

Slanted eyes. Kakashi should be discouraging her from showing emotion, not actively endorsing it.

Sakura disentangled herself from the embrace, before retorting (without missing a beat, much to Sasuke's satisfaction) "Oh? So every single guy I hug I must feel affection towards? Wow… then I'm in love with a whole lot of people." _'Some of them even S Class criminals'_ she mentally added to herself.

Of course, no one had any response; either because they couldn't be bothered or they couldn't think of one. Sasuke wholeheartedly agreed. The hug meant nothing.

"Let's not dally around, form a barrier and make sure no one passes through for at least two hours," she directed with an air of professionalism. "Yamato-taichou, do your woodland wall jutsu, so no one can see my direction as well."

Yamato complied and formed the hand seals for 'Mokuton: Jukai Heki'.

Immediately Sakura disappeared from Sasuke's vision, hidden by a dense wooden wall.

So that was what the annoying team was for. Still, glancing at the sky, her trail would remain even if she had a head start.

Sakura had changed. Sasuke wasn't sure whether he was relieved, annoyed or curious all he knew was that she had changed. The little girl who he was so accustomed to had almost completely vanished.

Well he'd just have to wait for the group's departure; they were only there to give her the upper hand anyway. They would stick around for about two hours.

A male voice broke through his strategising "Hm, why can't we just capture the Uchiha brat now?"

It was the Hyuuga. Inwardly he snorted; even injured he could defeat the pitiable ninja without batting an eyelash. If Sakura seriously had ever held any liking for that guy, then her standards had really dropped. Even Naruto would be a better choice. Of course, he couldn't take on all four of them at once but if it was between him and Neji… well he was certain that he would come out the victor.

Kakashi responded to the query solemnly "Due to politics of course. The Hokage would have to talk to the council of elders, as well as other villages. Before, Sasuke was simply a misguided runaway preteen, now after staying a missing nin for so long, completely of his own choice with no external influences, he has to take responsibility for his actions. Tsunade can't just welcome him back in with open arms – particularly if he has to be taken unwillingly. Discussion and preparation will be required. Especially if finding him looked deliberate."

"Ah, of course, Kakashi-san," the male respectfully nodded. "I was merely wondering if we could discreetly detain him and once all the necessary preparation has been taken, announce his return publicly," he mused mostly to himself "Although, it would look too coincidental. Well the traitor isn't worth wasting my breath for."

At this, Sasuke was fairly amused. Naruto wouldn't let trivial politics hold him back.

Soon any serious conversation faded away, Kakashi had his nose stuck in his orange book and the rest engaged in many pointless activities to while time away.

Eventually after quite a few hours they headed back, Yamato ceasing his jutsu. Once their footsteps died out, Sasuke hastily came out and summoned snakes to inform the rest of Hebi of his direction.

To his displeasure it seemed that there were multiple trails to follow, since when had Sakura become so sharp?

She could have headed to Amegakure, the den of Akatsuki, or through to River country. What business could she have in Ame? But she had only just been in River recently. Perhaps she was planning to go to Suna, after all the village was an ally of Konoha. Ame was far too risky, no matter what her assignment, he was fairly sure it didn't involve purposely throwing herself in the path of Akatsuki members. The Hokage wouldn't even give those kinds of missions to Sakura, weak, breakable Sakura. Although he had accepted the massive growth in her abilities, felt that she was finally worthy of his attention; deep inside of him she was still the powerless little girl who wept futile salty tears over him.

It was ingrained into every fibre of his being; Sakura would always be the weaker one. Back in the days of Team 7, protecting Sakura came naturally to him, like an instinct, not something he even needed to think about. That impulse, due to years of absence, must have been gone by now; at least he hoped so. He had broken of all bonds, all ties with anything related to his home a long time ago; he only was pursuing Sakura due to her medical abilities. No longer did he feel any urge to leap in front of Sakura if he sensed danger, he didn't care for her safety at all; at any rate he was completely convinced that he held no feelings towards Sakura, not even those of a former comrade. That wasn't entirely true, but he could not afford dwelling on it any more, he couldn't slip in his concrete resolve. There was nothing, he thought, relieved.

Gritting his teeth he tried to decide on which way to go. After several minutes of pondering and achieving nothing, he came to the decision to wait it out for Karin to arrive.

-0-

Sakura raced to Amegakure, not pausing once. After all, her intriguing puzzle of which way she had gone could only confuse Sasuke for so long and on the chance that he chose the right way, she would only have a few hours of an advantage and she would encounter difficulty in concealing herself in such a small village. And Karin would know what her chakra was like by now.

So she was gambling in a game with high stakes and could only hope she hadn't inherited her master's infamous luck.

It all depended, she mused, on the extent of Sasuke's faith in her aptitude.

This was probably the first and last time she wanted him to think lowly of her. Of course she didn't have the courage, strength or authorisation to go to Ame, of course. Of course it was only a routine visit to Suna. And _of course_ she was fairly pathetic.

She accelerated farther, wanting to escape from tracking range.

-0-

"Trace her chakra," Sasuke ordered firmly, eyes seemingly critical as if the red headed female had yet to prove her worth.

Eyebrows furrowing, Karin focused on feeling the chakra she had now familiarised herself with. After a moment or two of deep concentration she sighed slightly.

"Well?" the onyx eyed male intoned impatiently, "What is it?"

Something in her gut told Karin that Sasuke would be displeased at the news. Unfortunately for her evading the question was not an option due to Sasuke's shrewdness. So, feeling almost like a deer caught in headlights she answered "She's almost completely out of my range," as she watched the man's eyes narrow she hastily continued "But there is a flicker in that direction," she pointed to North West to where Ame would be.

He snorted in derision.

Somewhere in her, nearly completely smothered by layer upon layer of crazed infatuation, there was a tiny, infinitesimal twinge of resentment.

-0-

Upon arrival in the small village of Ame it was raining. It was the first time Sakura had visited the area mainly because of the hostility shown to Konoha nin. At the sight of her bright candy pink hair, villagers almost instantly began murmuring in low voices.

It didn't bother her much though; she had slowly become accustomed to all the rumours around her.

What did surprise her was how clean and modern everything was and how content the people were. All were well dressed, in styles quite similar to Konoha's. Old ladies chattered, young boys played games reminiscent of her own childhood in the streets.

She knew for a fact that Ame, a poor country throughout history, suffered the greatest during the Great Ninja Wars, it had literally become a battleground for the shinobi nations. Orphans wandered about, scavenging for nourishment of any sort, their tattered clothes sodden from the ceaseless downpours. The whole country had been devastated, diseases spread like wildfire in the chaotic conditions and of course due to the heavy starvation faced by much of the population, many people's immune systems were far too weak to deal with illness. Whole families had been wiped out directly or indirectly by the war.

Now she could see why all the citizens followed their obscure leader, shrouded in enigma, so devoutly. To them it seemed that he had revived the country from the depths of despair, given it a new life. Even she felt slightly heartened at the sight of well fed, healthy people.

But there was still distress on some faces. Two middle aged women, approximately in their late thirties, were in deep concerned discussion about their sons. Sakura, maintaining her distance, listened.

"He's been getting sent out on more missions than usual lately and coming back so injured," the shorter one of the pair said worriedly, "And he's stopped incessantly chattering too for some reason… he's so unresponsive these days you wouldn't believe it!"

The other female shook her head consolingly. "He'll be fine I tell you. That Tatsuya-kun of yours doesn't die easily. I think he just doesn't want to get nagged by you if he tells you how he gets those injuries."

Tatsuya. That name rang a bell. Was he the one she saved the life of months ago? He was an Ame nin and in his awestruck rambling had spilled quite a bit on the inner works of the village.

From what she had discerned, he was a ridiculously rash fellow, quite foolhardy and impulsive; blindly loyal to his leader whom he had never seen. His redeeming qualities were his formidable skill in combat and his naturally cooperative personality. But was too trusting of strangers as long as they posed no obvious threat. Painfully lacking in perception and cunning, he would be hopeless at reconnaissance.

Mentally taking note of the fact that Ame nin were having more assignments, she walked towards a modestly sized inn.

A rather weary, thin, balding man narrowed his eyes at her entrance. In return to his apparent unfriendliness, Sakura only smiled cordially.

Disgruntled, and scowling the man attempted to feign politeness, asking "What do you want?" although leering slightly at the end, not quite managing to hide his opinion of her.

Concealing her own less than pleasant thoughts about the ill mannered person in front of her she replied courteously yet with an almost wicked grin "Ah, Itachi-kun told me to wait for him here," she watched, amused at his frozen expression and continued "So do you have a room you could lend me?"

She reached out for the slashed forehead protector in her backpack displaying it to the innkeeper in front of her as proof that she was familiar with Itachi.

Almost instantly the man's demeanour experienced a complete turn around. His previously disrespectful face twisted itself into a look exhibiting pure horror and he blanched considerably.

Inwardly Sakura cackled with joy at the poor man's alarmed, panicked form. Served him right for his uncouth manner earlier. On the surface though, she carried on acting oblivious yet almost smugly smirking.

Regaining his composure, the man was sincerely apologetic. "Sorry for that earlier episode ma'am, I wasn't aware you were Uchiha-san's lover –

Lover? Lover? Oh she could just imagine how well that would go down with her mother (who had never really approved in her taste in boys anyway). After briefly fantasising about her mother's reaction, she redirected her attention back on the nervous man in front of her, not bothering to correct his rather amusing assumption.

"I apologise for everything, I just felt so stressed, we're so understaffed and my daughter's been sick for two days, and she's burning up… I assure you I meant no disrespect," in absolute panic he rambled on.

Deciding to put him out of his misery, Sakura calmly replied "It's okay, I understand fully. I know you must feel burdened by it all. Don't worry about it all."

The man relaxed visibly. "Are you sure?"

She gave him a kindly smile and handed him a small vial with a honey coloured fluid in it."Tell your daughter to drink this, it'll help her fever."

Gratefully accepting the gift, the man insisted on her staying for free, arguing that he was indebted to her.

Dismissing the idea with a vigorous shake of her head, she told him not to worry again "I'm a medic after all; it's my duty to help people." The warm smile never left her face as she paid the bill.

The innkeeper handed her a key, amazed at her generosity.

She headed to her room, ignoring the many eyes pair of admiring eyes trailing after her until the last trace of her shadow disappeared from view.

Worn out from her days travel, she lay down on the bed for a while, already feeling a sense of detachment, an emptiness that came on the first night of being away from home and knowing she couldn't go back soon. There was already an absence of warmth and suddenly she felt uneasy as she gazed at her unfamiliar surroundings, lifeless white walls, so dull they could have been grey. The consistent rhythm of the raindrops pounding against the roof was a monotonous funeral march, filled with solemnity.

To her, the place lacked soul.

Snapping out of her musings, she took a shower relishing in the fact that the water was wonderfully warm and soothing against her coarse skin.

After washing the shampoo out of her hair, she regretfully stepped out of the shower and proceeded to dry herself then adorn herself in her pyjamas.

Slightly homesick, she curled up on the bed, falling asleep quickly.

_She stood trembling, bruised and bleeding, in front of a masked figure. 'Move' she tried to motivate herself 'Move.'_

_Around her were ruins. Ruins not of the shinobi village of Konoha, but of her home. Dead bodies were raining down, leaves dancing down to their graces. Those bloodied corpses she hoped never to see. The only physical reminder she had left of her friends._

_Despite a clear sky and the sun shining warmly, shining as if nothing of consequence had happened, there was a fatal chill in the air. A chill which was making her blood run cold._

_She still couldn't find it within her to move. Not that it mattered much now anyway. Her mouth opened, presumably to scream, yet not a sound came out._

_Frozen, she watched as the figure shifted to lay the final blow. It seemed like an eternity had passed, as if everything was occurring in slow motion. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for death. Yet the hit she was expecting never came. Because it had been taken by Sasuke._

_It was Sasuke who stood in front of her, clutching his chest, gasping slightly. It was Sasuke who, even after saving her life, wouldn't face her. It was Sasuke who was dying._

_She screamed. He kneeled down, before gracefully falling on his chest._

_At that moment, everything though passing through her mind disappeared. All that existed was Sasuke, limp, lifeless Sasuke. Because of her._

_Desperately, she turned him round and shook him hard. "Sasuke! Sasuke!" her frantic yelling gradually changed into a despairing whisper "S-Sasuke-kun… No… you can't die… no…"_

_His eyes were closing and he made no sign of recognition. What was left of her strength dissolved and tears began spilling down from her eyes._

"_I-I love you… I love you, you can't die!"_

There was a stern rapping on the door. She bolted upright, sweating and distressed. Practically racing to the bathroom, she washed her face quickly reassuring herself that it was only a dream.

Approximately five minutes later, she opened the door to Itachi's patient face. She flushed, a little embarrassed by her creased attire and unkempt hair. "Um, hello?"

"You had a nightmare," he stated factually.

Naturally, nothing could escape Itachi's notice.

There was a moment of awkward silence, with Sakura unsure of what to say. Perhaps to hide he discomfort, she spoke more formally than usual "Would you like to come inside?"

He took the invitation and stepped inside.

"Tea?" she offered. It had been so long since she had been woken up by someone, let alone right after an unusual bad dream and she was troubled.

Nodding, he observed her oddly tense, edgy movements. If he had been someone else he would have pondered on why but being sharply perceptive he already had a fairly accurate idea.

"I'm going to remove all the unauthorised symptom suppressors you have been using for the past couple of years. Um… it'll definitely hurt a lot but you'll have to keep still."

Itachi lowered his chin in understanding.

Finally regaining her usual professional attitude, she explained the procedure on more detail "The process is swift but your body will be weakened for some hours whilst it adapts to the changes."

Disliking the information presented, the elder Uchiha brother frowned slightly.

She hesitated for a moment before delivering the even less savoury details "You may lose consciousness or feel extremely hazy,"

His frown deepened as he calculated the risks.

Sensing his reservation she delicately yet confidently said "Have faith in me."

Faith, one of the many things he had lost an eternity ago.

He scrutinised her closely for a moment before arriving at a decision. The only real, tangible threat was that Sakura would betray him. Betrayal was something he knew all too well, what he did and what had been done to him. But there was no sign of deceit in her tone, posture or eyes. After long deliberation he finally replied "I see."

When he made no move to leave, Sakura assumed he had given his consent. "Drink the tea and then we'll start," the pink haired woman addressed him as she handed him his cup.

At first they drank in an almost stifling silence to Sakura, a silence giving her far too much time to think. The desire to start a conversation becoming uncontrollable, she spoke up "I stopped at Konoha for a while."

Recognising that the girl in front of him needed relief from the quiet he inquired "You visit often?"

"No, actually this was the first time I visited since I left," she answered, happy he was continuing the discourse.

"Who did you see there?" he asked, despite knowing the majority of her acquaintances would merely be names to him.

"Well obviously I reported to Tsunade-shishou first," she grinned a little, remembering, "But on my way I saw Kakashi-sensei. I and Ino-pig spent some time together then…" she paused for a moment before hastily continuing "I hung out with my team and helped in the hospital a bit."

"Aa," he nodded, gesturing towards his empty teacup.

"Well let's get started!" she exclaimed, almost at once rejuvenated at the prospect for healing.

Not requiring instructions, Itachi slid his shirt off and lay down on the bed.

"Hold still," Sakura warned.

It was one fluid movement really, one moment he was laying still in anticipation and the next felt like his very soul had been ripped out of him. His face distorted itself into a pained expression and he let out an inaudible gasp as he tried to break free from the chakra bindings that had suddenly wrapped themselves around him like oppressive chains.

And really Sakura couldn't help but see a resemblance. When Itachi looked so… looked so human right in front of her eyes she saw something in him. She saw his little brother in him. "S-Sasuke-kun," she softly whispered.

But then she realised it was Itachi before her, Itachi whom she was treating. And for some reason a tear slid down her cheek.

Pulling the remainder of the substances out of the man's body she murmured "Rest."

The few seconds of pain hadn't perturbed Itachi that much, although it had been a while since he had experienced such discomfort. It was the amount of vulnerability he was currently feeling, the defenceless. He felt powerless; that was so much more disturbing than any level of pain (because, what pain hadn't he experienced already?). To be lacking consciousness whilst in the hands of a kunoichi who could easily kill him was unpleasant to say the least.

But what else could he do so drained? And they were in Ame which meant that if Sakura was held responsible for any harm she would be dead within hours.

Realizing the difficulty Itachi was having in falling completely unconscious, which was the best thing for him at the moment Sakura said "If you are unconscious, you'll recover fully within four hours."

It was this information that convinced him that unconsciousness was the best option so he allowed his body to relax.

Hours later he awoke to see the kunoichi dozing off on a chair.

Slipping his shirt and cloak back on, he wrote guidance telling Sakura the plan for the final healing session. Then, without making a sound, he left the room

-0-

"You are late, Itachi," a figure commented coolly with a quiet air of authority.

The rest of the Akatsuki were already projecting themselves, standing in their respective places.

Unflinchingly Itachi replied "I apologise."

"This is unlike you," the sole female in the collection of individuals reprimanded slightly.

"Kisame has already informed me of your endeavours," the man, Pain, spoke again.

Shooting a sideways glance at the projection of the shark man, Itachi wondered how much his partner had told the leader.

"What do you intend to do with the medic once she has finished healing you?" Pain asked, politely.

"Kill her," Itachi answered deceptively assured.

"Onto more significant matters we still have two bijuu left to capture," Pain fixated his grave stare onto Itachi "Kisame, Itachi both of you have failed to seize the Kyuubi jinchuuriki multiple times,"

"The kid always has someone unexpectedly showing up to save his ass," Kisame interjected.

"You failures disappoint me. Do not make excuses, I am aware of the full extent of your abilities and I am also aware you are not using them_,_" despite never raising his voice the impact of his statements were felt fully. Nobody even attempted to defend themselves. "We have no more time left for carelessness. If the Kyuubi remains free two months from now we shall commence our final plan."

The authoritative voice resonated as one by one each member disappeared to attend to their own affairs.

**A/N: I apologise again for not updating for well over a month. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This chapter goes out especially to Sakura's Indecision because her reviews never fail to make me smile and motivate me. All my dear reviewers, you are such kind people. **

When Sakura awoke, it was evening and Itachi was gone. Her back aching from sleeping in the wrong position, she got up groaning. Rebuking herself mentally for falling asleep off guard, in any other circumstance she would have been lucky to be alive, she made her way towards the dressing table.

A small note fluttered due to the wind. Curious, she picked it up and read its contents.

It was the plans for the final healing session.

_Sakura,_

_Burn after reading. Leave as soon as you read this. Set out to the remains of Otogakure, I shall find you there. Travel as quickly as possible, I have sent out one of my clones to sidetrack Sasuke._

_Itachi_

The note was so typical of Itachi; accurate and concise, only saying exactly what he deemed was needed.

She burned it at once. Packing up her things, taking meticulous care not to leave anything behind, she departed through the window – which was fast becoming her most frequent exit route. It was a pity really; she would have liked to see the innkeeper's daughter recover. And how long had it been since she had proper sleep and not just the bare minimum amount of resting time? She'd been going from one place to the other at rapid pace since she had left River Country. But there was no time to waste with Sasuke heatedly pursuing her – oh how she did love the irony of it all now.

Unfortunately the rain had yet to cease. It was a two day journey to Oto, one and a half at absolute best. From what she'd heard at Konoha, going from Ame to Oto was one of the worst possible journeys ever, particularly at this time of year. The terrain was mostly forest, which she was familiar with; however, the cloud cover was so dense there was low visibility most of the time, the exception being at the earlier hours of dawn.

There were no hamlets, not even one or two shelters in the stretch and in the moist environment bacteria thrived in, infection was easy to catch. All Konoha nin had to take vaccinations if they had missions which required them to be in this area.

Needless to say, Sakura did not like the area she had to cover very much. Of course Itachi had his reasons but she would have felt so much better about the situation had he bothered explaining himself. Evidently he saw no need for that, not like he ever did, she thought with some measure of annoyance then sadness as she remembered how many explanations he really owed Sasuke.

She hissed in frustration and in her small break from concentration she slipped on the mud.

-0-

It was a regular, however dangerous, reconnaissance mission. Just Asuma and two others dressed up as civilian tourists in Ame – although why anyone would holiday there was quite beyond the man. Despite the fact that Sakura was the general information gatherer, at times the elders, being the distrusting people they were, liked to send other shinobi just to check nothing was going unreported.

The village, like all villages, was buzzing with gossip from to tall near baseless rumours to more factual titbits of information.

What caught the trio's eye; however, were the incessant, excited whispers of the enigma of Uchiha Itachi's lover.

At first Asuma, Genma and Ino just chuckled, dismissing the idea of the stoic man being in a relationship with anyone as ludicrous. But when word of a pink haired Konoha nin and the 'lover' became very much intertwined it started to unnerve them.

"It's probably one of her ploys to gather information," Asuma rationalised, not wanting to contemplate the bubbly pink haired kunoichi even coming into contact with the criminal let alone being involved with him in any sort of way, "Or maybe somebody is trying to frame her, I wouldn't put it past Danzo at the moment."

"Or," Genma argued despite wanting to believe in her innocence, "There could be some sort of inkling of truth."

Ino sharply glared at the man. "We don't even know where she is,"

"However sceptical I am of Sakura being on intimate terms with Uchiha Itachi we should report the rumour nonetheless," he replied coolly, recalling the protocol for these kinds of things.

Neither of the other two argued, thinking that once Sakura explained it all it would put their minds at rest.

Unbeknownst to them, an infinitesimal seed of doubt had already been implanted in their heads.

-0-

Sasuke was, as usual these days thought his disgruntled team mates, aggravated.

Anyone with basic survival instinct was staying at the very least eight good meters away form him and kept their mouths shut. Even so everybody in the nearby vicinity was liable to suffer one of his ruthless lash outs.

Thankfully for the moment, he had sulked off to find some sort of solace in training and Hebi could breathe again.

"He's lost it," Suigetsu began "The pinky has made him completely lose it,"

With an air of superiority disguising her annoyance, Karin folded her arms and responded "It's Itachi doing it, not the kunoichi,"

"Well it is partially Itachi's fault but did you see his face when the clone mentioned Sakura? It even activated the curse seal," Suigetsu argued back, vividly recalling the encounter.

_Flashback_

_They had, after long deliberation, decided to head to Amegakure. It was then Itachi showed up, saying "If it is not too inconvenient for your party, I would like to test my foolish little brother."_

_Needless to say, Sasuke reacted to that violently executing jutsu after jutsu, delivering blow after blow to no avail. Itachi just seemed to stand there placidly, not affected even in the slightest way._

_No matter how much the rest of Hebi desired to assist him, they were strictly forbidden to by Sasuke himself as he believed it was his battle alone._

_At some point Sasuke felt that it had to be some kind of genjutsu so he began doing his best to dispel the illusion he was so sure he was in._

"_You do not have the same eyes as me yet," Itachi coolly commented._

_Sasuke ignored his brother entirely, doing his best to focus solely on the fight._

"_Or perhaps, perhaps you are too weak to ever be able to get these eyes," the statement transformed into a soft taunt forcefully pushing the younger one's simmering anger to the surface._

"_Shut up!" Sasuke shouted in the middle of a shuriken technique._

"_Are you so pathetic that you cannot even accept truth of your sorry existence?" Was that pushing Sasuke too much? "Foolish little brother, hate me more. Loathe me with every fibre of your body and then you will truly become strong."_

_Itachi watched, undisturbed while Sasuke was doing his utmost to kill him, deflecting all attacks with ease._

_He threw in one final gibe "I am closer to acquiring the medic than you ever will be."_

_That was it. Sasuke snarled fiercely and roared a raw, animalistic roar before lunging almost barbarically at his older brother, completely out of his senses. When he missed he felt a fire burning within him as black marks crept upon his skin._

_But then Itachi was gone leaving only crows and his teenage brother stood shaking with rage as he tried to regain control of himself. It was only when he collapsed onto the floor as the curse seal receded that Hebi dared to approach._

_And as long as they lived they were certain they'd _never_ be able to forget that pure, unadulterated murderous look in his normally blank eyes._

_End Flashback_

-0-

Itachi had thought upon the encounter with some strange fondness, a rarity in his life. Sasuke threw shuriken just as he had observed from watching Itachi himself training.

-0-

Right then Sakura decided she hated life. She had to sleep in this area with no sort of shelter as the rain continued to pour down. She glanced at the damp green earth and her already muddied clothing and let out a sigh. She was exhausted but not exhausted enough that she would willingly settle into _that_. She frowned in distaste. Unluckily she had to stop and rest for at least one or two hours and there was not a spot that could possibly be much better than this nearby; quite a distressing fact. Really, hadn't anyone thought of constructing an inn here?

Staring at her soiled self she decided that she'd rather not dirty her blankets as well and absentmindedly wondered if there was something, anything that would put some distance between her and the ground squelching beneath her boots. Her answer was found in the towering trees looming over her like authoritative parents. She frowned, although it was an infinite amount of times better than sleeping on the ground smothered by mud, gaining slumber in a tree wasn't exactly her ideal way of going about things. But of course it was the best option available and in the shinobi world there was no chance to be fussy.

So, displeased at the turn of events, she began to make her way to make her way up the tree.

-0-

Naruto wasn't stupid. In fact he was quite a perceptive person and could easily detect dishonesty.

He knew something was up. The hospital had been running perfectly fine without Sakura and they wouldn't call her just because she was there.

Border politics? Those conflicts had been brewing quietly in a corner for years, generally settled by an ambush or two; they never disrupted any plans.

Sakura was hiding something from him, perhaps under orders, perhaps out of her own accord but either way he was hurt. Disappointed that she couldn't tell him everything like they once promised to; at least he knew she must have had reason that, in her mind, justified it. Sakura nearly always told him what was on her mind.

For him, it was time to march up to the Hokage tower and demand answers.

-0-

Soaking wet and muddy, the unclean, unsanitary sensation not at all pleasant, Sakura arrived at Oto. Rather than rushing straight to what was left of the village, she first found a small lake to clean herself in. After bathing, she put on some fresh clothes and attempted to wash the ones she had been wearing for two days. Grimacing at the stains and rips she soon realised this was an impossible task.

So she left them by the lake, vaguely aware in the recesses of her mind that it was an extremely unsafe thing to do.

Then she made her way back to Oto. What met her there both shocked her and horrified her. Starving children attempting to hone their half finished shinobi training by pick pocketing unsuspecting travellers, all out criminals leering at her and young women with gaunt and haunted faces that revealed the full extent of their despair; the streets could easily move someone tears.

'_How could Sasuke live here and not do a thing whilst these poor people were suffering?'_

She tried to walk on but she couldn't find it in her. After hearing an agonisingly prolonged raspy cough, she made her decision. It was her duty, her duty as a human being, to help these people.

Racing to the woman who was coughing, she crouched down by her side, supporting her to cough up the last of the phlegm before beginning work.

Laying the stunned woman on her back, she performed a quick examination and swiftly surmised what was wrong. Within seconds she pulled out a substantial amount of dirt from the woman's lungs and then set her upright.

"Feel better?" the pinkette asked sincerely.

The woman nodded feverishly.

"Drink this, it'll help your throat," before the woman had a chance to protest, Sakura handed her a bottle of medicine and left to tend to the other people in distress.

That was how she occupied herself for a handful of days, even going so far as to set up a makeshift clinic of sorts in an empty building she had stumbled on. Little children were properly fed, illnesses treated and crime combated. Within days she'd brought about a modest change to Oto, which was saying a lot considering the time span, and had learnt quite a lot about what had happened during Orochimaru's terrifying reign.

-0-

Sakura, as predicted, wasn't hard to find at all. In fact, she needed to work on being less conspicuous.

From the moment Itachi stepped into an inhabited area of Otogakure all he could hear were the whispers of the generous pink haired kunoichi who had kindly done this or that always with a smile on her face. It would take no effort whatsoever for an adversary to discover her, none at all.

But he had to hand it to the young kunoichi, she had made a difference. Of course the people were still poor, crime still rife but there was a change in mindset. Simply by her warm words and willingness to help, she had created a spark of hope in the despairing darkness.

Perhaps she could save Sasuke from his own personal darkness as well.

He allowed a young child to lead him to her.

From a rough and ready revamped building, she emerged, face slightly flushed.

"Heya," she greeted with a friendly grin. "How are you?"

He simply grunted in response and entered.

Once inside, he gazed around to see many exhausted people being tended to, and somewhat surprisingly, Sakura had helpers plastering up people and giving medication.

"Do you mind doing it in public or would you rather wait an hour or so?" she asked, hesitantly glancing at the individuals she'd be abandoning.

"In an hour, I will find you," was all he said before taking off.

After his abrupt departure she once again found herself gazing worriedly at her patients of some extent. It would not be pleasant to leave this place to fend for itself, however, it was necessary. She had done her best to train a few in healing, so at least there would be individuals who had basic knowledge of first aid and knew how to cure common colds. The children who had some form of shinobi training were taught to deal with criminals and the ones she saw with potential had been told teach others. It wasn't like she was leaving the town entirely defenceless. A small part of her would have liked to have aided the unfortunate area throughout till it had fully recovered but of course that was not at all feasible.

Suddenly she realised that today or tomorrow would most likely be her last day. Turning back to her slightly confused audience, she sighed and reluctantly started explaining.

-0-

"Do you trust Itachi?" a female questioned, concerned.

The male answered "He will have no choice, Konan, than to do as I wish."

Unconvinced, she articulated her doubt with a quiet "Hm,"

-0-

Itachi, being the patient person he was, just waited. He had found an underground base of Orochimaru's and decided to investigate. Knowledge was always valuable. His investigation ended up being quite fruitless, revealing nothing not previously known. However it was fair, since he did have far more pressing matters to attend to.

After the latest developments and orders from Leader, it would be a lie to say he wasn't troubled at all.

Currently, he engaged himself in configuring an elaborate scheme that would defeat the self proclaimed God's plans. His brow creased in concentration as he tried to form something workable and as close to infallible as possible. Difficulty came when it depended on other people acting the exact way he intended them too; which didn't always happen.

An hour passed by rapidly and, frowning a little, he made his way back to the building Sakura occupied and rapped on the door. He could hear her hastily giving out instructions through the feeble protection of the walls before she herself appeared outside.

To his surprise she did not seem tired or worn by all the work she had been doing, in fact she looked somewhat invigorated.

He approved of her selflessnesss and her desire to help even complete strangers, regardless of who they were, it was a good trait to have. The Sandaime had indeed chose worthy team mates for Sasuke and with that he felt a surge of relief. Her attitude to life would do Sasuke a world of good, make him realise that it was not all about revenge. She had a naturally consoling presence, which was perfect was his little brother's turbulent emotions. Itachi decided that he accepted her, which was a privilege that very few people held, and was as close to liking her as he could be.

"Follow me," he quietly ordered and turned to head to Orochimaru's base, where it was unlikely that they would be disturbed.

Although it was difficult to say for sure, Sakura could swear that he seemed more on edge than usual. He seemed more of the detached Akatsuki that she first knew. "Are you okay?" she asked apprehensively.

He turned to face her with an indecipherable stare and inclined his head before continuing onward.

"You seem troubled."

Another cryptic stare was the only response she got.

When they arrived at the base, her eyes widened fractionally "This is…"

He nodded curtly and led her to a room. "This is where you will heal me,"

Biting her lip, feeling something akin to nervousness, she gave him a warm smile trying to soothe both of their uneasy sentiments. "I think," she hesitated knowing the man would not like what she was about to say "This will be less risky if you're unconscious,"

"Is it necessary?" he inquired, eyes narrowed.

"If I do while you're conscious, there's a risk of complication," she replied.

"But you can still do it," there was no question in his voice.

She frowned and shook her head. "There's too much chance of a serious complication,"

"A medic of your calibre can still manage it," he stated.

Why on earth was he so stubborn? "I don't want you to die, dammit!" she yelled. "It's a hard operation to do and just the smallest mess up…" her voice trailed off.

Perhaps that convinced him of her sincerity. He relented and let her knock him out.

Sakura cleared her mind of everything and slipped into her medic mode.

An hour or so later, she was finishing cleaning up and the pair sat cross-legged opposite each other in the dim light the candles provided.

"Can we talk?" she requested hesitantly, not wanting to impose upon him too much but this could very well be her last chance to discuss certain topics with him, topics she urgently needed to discuss.

He dipped his head in agreement. "What do you wish to talk about?" It was the least he could do in return for the kindness she'd shown him.

Her voice was barely above a whisper as she asked "Anou, will I ever be able to tell Sasuke? The… the truth,"

Instantly catching on her meaning, Itachi immediately stiffed. "No," he answered resolutely.

She found the courage to raise her voice "Why not? Don't you think he deserves to know what happened? Doesn't he deserve to know that… that it was a sick and twisted _council" _her voice dripped with venom at that word "that decided on _his family's _fate?"

"Do you wish for my brother to be directed against Konoha?" he sounded unaffected by her outburst.

Pausing to think for a moment, she replied "I don't want him to, but if you ask me, _he has every damn right to!"_

Itachi shook his head. "If he is proven to be an enemy of Konoha, what do you think will happen? ANBU hunter nin would be sent to track him and kill him on sight."

"The elders deserve to die," she muttered "Surely, surely if it is exposed how immoral they are, they will be executed and then you and Sasuke will have justice and there will be no need for Sasuke to seek revenge against the whole village."

How could an intelligent kunoichi have such a simplistic way of thinking? "The Uchiha clan were planning a coup d'etat. Sakura, I was the informant, I was the killer; it was I who helped them. The blame still falls on me,"

"No," she responded fervently "You told them about the coup, because you cared for the village's safety. That didn't give them an excuse to go commit _genocide!_ They should have reconciled and negotiated with the Uchiha clan and definitely not asked _you_ to _murder_ _your own_ family. It can't be justified. They were wrong; they caused you to suffer, caused Sasuke to suffer; they're cold blooded _monsters_!"

He flinched, as if physically burned, at the sheer intensity of her words. She was bringing up subjects that he had locked away in a safe corner of his brain; things that he tried not to think about ever since the night of massacre. No one had ever broached it with him anyway until Sakura came along. "Do not say such things Sakura. Speaking such treason against those who hold authority may get you executed."

Brushing the words of caution aside, there was fire in her eyes as she articulated her passionate thoughts "Please, do not evade the matter at hand Itachi. You know as well as I do that Sasuke has a right to know this all."

"He has a right," Itachi agreed softly, "But it would be better for him not to know."

"That is the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard," she told him frankly.

His eyes hardened. "You will not tell him, kunoichi."

He desperately wanted to terminate the conversation. It was too disconcerting; too many years had gone blocking it all out, blocking those terrified screams because of _him_, blocking out the look of disgust and betrayal on his best friend's face and blocking out all the fear, the anger, the hatred of Sasuke. He remembered the happenings painfully vividly – that was the curse of being born a prodigy – and how he wished he didn't. Every night, it would have been so much easier to succumb to sleep if it was all a surreal blur in his mind.

Indignation spread across her features. "So you're telling me you want me to watch Sasuke to throw away his life over a false goal and encourage him at that?"

Briefly nodding his head, his reply was a simple 'yes' as if it all made sense to him.

"Why on earth do you want that?"

"If Sasuke was aware of the truth do you think he'd still want to kill me?" he asked her gravely, wondering why she couldn't let it go.

"Why do you want to be killed? You, you could be brothers again, _why do you want to throw this chance away?_" Unshed tears glistened in her eyes.

His stare was intense with self-loathing and he stated, as if it were truth "I deserve to die. Would you not agree that it was I who ruined Sasuke's life?"

Sakura truly felt like throttling him, shaking him hard till he understood that he and Sasuke _needed _to straighten out matters. "No, you didn't. You want the best for him dammit, but your idea is wrong. And," her eyes glittered with pure anger at his hatred for himself "_Never_ say you deserve to die."

He became rigid at her words. He needed to end the discussion now. "It does not matter. I will leave and you will join and aid my otouto in bringing about my death once he ready."

"So I'm supposed to help him kill a victim, an innocent?" she was shouting now, standing up, frantically trying to convey her message.

Before she had a chance to react, she found herself pinned against a wall, a kunai pressed against her throat.

"I am not innocent, Sakura. I've committed many crimes for the Akatsuki, killed many people and I could kill you just as easily right now." his tone was laced with an inscrutable emotion.

For some reason she felt no fear, despite her heart pounding wildly against her ribcage. "I've killed people too," she retorted "No shinobi is innocent in that respect."

He frowned. "Sakura, do not think for an instant that I'm a victim. I am not."

She scowled furiously, evidently disagreeing with him, but decided to steer the dispute back to its original purpose. "What if Sasuke discovers the truth after your death? What will he feel then?"

"He won't find out to begin with," he responded regaining his composure.

"These things get out eventually, wouldn't it be better if he heard it all from you?" she ardently campaigned.

He had no response to that. After a long silence he finally answered "I will think about it,"

She had fallen to the floor, unconscious.

Itachi left, satisfied.

**A/N: Reviews give me the energy to jump over the moon.**


	11. Chapter 11

There were too many people in her office. Tsunade glanced from the three standing giving report to the boisterous Naruto who had his hands on her desk to the chuunin carrying in even more paperwork – speaking of which, could her desk even handle the weight of it all anymore? And of course Shizune was at her side, just finishing off the latest harangue. She twitched dangerously.

"Don't you care about Sakura-chan, baa-chan?"

She needed sake. Now.

Naruto had been bugging her non-stop since yesterday and he was the reason she was sitting in this stuffy office in the first instance so she directed her rather vicious scowl at him. He gulped and she was sadistically satisfied at his evident terror.

Now to attend to business, so much business that encumbered her shoulders, so many crises always piling up like a gargantuan tower ready to topple over. Did she ever get a break from the constant turmoil brewing in the shinobi world? Some people had to leave. Facing her usual paperwork carriers, she barked "Drop the paperwork and kindly get out!"

The two chuunin sputtered "H-hai!" in a very unbecoming way in respects to their rank before doing as ordered and scampering out meekly.

Perhaps she had been too harsh in them purely because of the current chaos in her office – chaos Naruto had an unfortunate tendency of creating.

She turned her attention the blonde aforementioned and struggled to stay composed "Leave, calm down, and come back once the others have finished the mission report,"

"But baa-chan…" Naruto protested futilely.

Tsunade shot him a sharp glare. "_Now_, or no A rank missions for three months."

Sighing in resignation, Naruto threw her a determined grimace prior to sulkily stomping away.

Except he didn't exactly exit. Oh no, he stayed outside the door, eagerly eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Hokage-sama, whatever Haruno has said so far is accurate."

Naruto grinned, of course it would be. It was just that the paranoid elders were so suspicious of Sakura, for god knows what reason, like she hadn't earned their trust yet or something. Personally he was a little insulted that they didn't have faith in his team mate after she had done so much. Sakura had been affronted too and was most contemptuous in her message after she learnt of their doing.

Apparently Tsunade's thoughts mirrored his own because she replied crankily "Tell me something I don't already know,"

There was the sound of shuffling feet before another voice, Ino he could tell, spoke up "You see there's an interesting rumour going about."

Naruto could almost picture Tsunade's head snapping up, heavy lidded amber eyes finally becoming alert. "What is it?"

Now there was an unsettling silence. Significant glances were being exchanged between individuals and there was a discreet conflict in whether to tell at all and who would tell.

At this point, the blonde male pressed his ear as close as possible to the door because the most exciting information always came after silences such as that one.

Ultimately it was Asuma who gruffly blurted out "They say Haruno is Uchiha's lover."

Naruto toppled over and crashed into the door with so much force that he managed to push it open. "What?"

If Tsunade hadn't been so shocked herself at the proclamation, she would have thought to yell at him for eavesdropping. But all she could do for a few moments was to stare blankly at nothing in particular, mouth agape. After a while she sighed and struggled out "Please tell me you're talking about Sasuke,"

There was no answer, but that was enough for her to accept the unpleasant truth. She exhaled deeply whilst Naruto convulsed in a silent rage. "Has it been confirmed?"

Awkward glances were tossed about now and the trio reporting anxiously diverted their attention from the female Hokage's firm gaze.

After a handful of stuttered 'erm's, she gave up at trying to recover more of what they'd heard. She snapped "Just write it up on the mission report and keep quiet about it for now," Casting a stern look towards Ino, she added "That's an order."

Ino deflated immediately, what juicy gossip it would have made. Konoha's most loved medic possibly partaking in such a scandalous affair? She could hear the heated discussions now.

"You are all dismissed," the Godaime said with another sigh. As Naruto attempted to escape with the rest, she glared at him. "Except you, Naruto."

Naruto swallowed in fear, the sadistic glint of her eyes never meant good news for him. For Tsunade, however, tormenting him was a way of relieving her newly added stress. If word got around about this recent _rumour_ in the wrong circles… her apprentice could easily encounter problems or _"accidents"_ could start occurring. She had utmost faith in Sakura, and was confident that the girl knew what she was doing but just mere rumours had made the Elders demand a full enquiry before. And, judging by the way the shinobi had squirmed uncomfortably, the mission report she expected would not be pleasing in the slightest.

-0-

When Ino first heard the rumour, she had laughed it off; her best friend was definitely not that irrational. Delving into it more deeply had actually made her think a little. After all, there were quite… disturbing things that the innkeeper divulged. Sakura did once say she managed to hug Itachi, and just shortly afterwards her brief visit, this buzz around her had emerged and been uncovered by none other than Konoha shinobi.

It concerned the blonde, to say the least. Sakura was known for her irrational love of Uchiha Sasuke (whom Ino had long gotten over) always jumping to defend him the moment she caught wind of the slightest hint of mockery. She had once had been as bold as to even confront the elders on their derisive comments, and only ANBU guards managed to restrain her from punching Koharu.

It was possibly that which had made her so untrustworthy in some people's eyes, or popular in other's. Even when she left, although she frequently denied it, Ino could still tell that Haruno Sakura was very much in love with Uchiha Sasuke.

And she hated Uchiha Itachi with every fibre of her being. It was quite possibly a detestation that rivalled Sasuke's own.

But something had changed in her last visit. She didn't spit out the name in utter loathing anymore, granted she didn't exactly say with great affection either. And whilst in the process of figuring everything out, trying to find what caused the crucial difference, Ino had her frightening epiphany. She didn't know her best friend anymore.

Well she did, she knew her past, her fears, her deepest secrets. But there was some sort of _difference, _an attitude shift. The Sakura she'd grown up was not so world wise, not so sharp, and definitely not so _hard. _The vulnerability that her friend once openly showcased was now encased inside a rock exterior.

It was difficult, twirling her pen around absentmindedly, to write this report. Should she mention her concerns or shouldn't she? She trusted Sakura to know what she was getting into but surely if she wasn't doing anything wrong it would be fine to mention to the Hokage. Ino sighed in frustration. It couldn't really be considered betraying her friend, seeing her friend hadn't exactly confided anything to her in the first place. And to not report information was treason to the village which could result in execution. Although they wouldn't know she was skimping on details to begin with.

After a difficult inner debate, she finally made her decision. She would write up everything, as required of a loyal Konoha shinobi.

-0-

Sakura slowly awoke, groggily rubbing her eyes and blinking rapidly, exactly three times. As she tried to remember why she was lying still on the floor of a dimly lit room the events of the afternoon slowly returned to her. She sat up first still hazy and, medical instinct kicking in before much else did, checked for bruises. Fortunately there was nothing too major, just a handful of scrapes she must have acquired when she had fallen. Itachi would have done well to catch her (inwardly she snorted a little, courtliness didn't seem to be integrated into Uchiha nature), although, to his credit he did set her body in a position so that she wouldn't suffer back ache when she arose.

The awkward sort of chivalry that _was_ ingrained into Uchihas was oddly endearing, like knocking a girl out but instead of leaving her defenceless on the ground leaving her defenceless on a bench or letting a girl fall but making sure her body is in a comfortable position afterwards.

Briefly pausing her contemplations to bend down and heal herself she realised her chakra levels were exceptionally low. That explained why she felt so awful and lethargic. She had been pushing herself non-stop in order to help as many people as possible it was little wonder that she passed out in front of Itachi. It had been a common occurrence for her in Konoha, working too much overtime and being dragged to her apartment by one of her team mates, normally Naruto but on the odd day Kakashi or Sai. It was a little more intense this time as near complete chakra depletion and emotional exhaustion didn't bode well together.

She bit her lip in slight anxiety. It was always irksome to find yourself weak and powerless, but even more so when completely alone with no team to back you. And, not knowing if this place had traps set up (although knowing the sick depraved mind of Orochimaru, it definitely did), and how to get around all of them and where the exit was in the labyrinth of a base – to put it simply it was worrying.

Itachi would not be so unkind as to have left her here, stuck in a base that was dying to kill her.

So, after fishing for the soldier pill lurking somewhere at the bottom of her bag and swallowing it with a grimace, the young kunoichi began to rummage about in search of some sort of clue as to what to do.

Indeed in lying inside one of the drawers was a neatly folded piece of paper written on with impeccable handwriting that made her feel guilty about her own messy scrawl which she knew only belonged to one person. Honestly, couldn't he have at least flawed his elegant script just a little so she wouldn't be completely mortified by those rushed notes he once flicked through.

_Sakura,_

_You passed out towards the end of our meeting. Thank you for your efficiency in treating me. Your assignment from Konoha was to gather information about the Akatsuki –_

She gasped; how did he know that –

_and I appreciate you must have neglected that in order to treat me. As you cannot afford to raise suspicion on your activities, here is correct information for you._

_Deidara is the most unsatisfied of the Akatsuki at present. He was coerced into the organisation by me and hates all Uchihas. He has a mechanism on his right eye, created to counter genjutsu._

_Tobi, I suspect, not who we think he is. I am gauging his influence on our leader._

_Akatsuki's current objectives are to eliminate anyone after the last two jinchuuriki whilst attempting to capture them ourselves. There is a roughly three month deadline in which to capture the kyuubi vessel, however, the leader may decide to pursue the hachibi more actively instead . Increase protection around Naruto for the time being. _

_Also tell your slug to come to me first, I can copy handwriting. I shall add fresh information in return for you informing me about Sasuke._

_Burn this and remember your side of our agreement._

_Itachi_

_Postscript: Find your own way out of the base; it will be a valuable training exercise. All deadly traps have been disabled, minor ones remain._

Sakura read it slowly, digesting the information. This would definitely, definitely improve her next report significantly. She felt like hugging Itachi just then. She needed to get into the Elders good books, and what a beautiful bit of luck. Itachi truly was a godsend at times. Until of course the postscript hit her.

He expected her to find her way out of this… this labyrinth? While all her muscles ached and she just wanted to flop down on a nice warm and comfy bed? What kind of twisted idea of a training exercise was this? That jerk was going to get it someday… someday when the Uchiha brothers were united again and the truth was finally revealed.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulder she set off and began to find her way out of the foul dimly lit corridors.

-0-

"You did not kill the medic, Itachi," the taller man reprimanded, his stern gaze fixed in wait of an explanation.

"There was no need to," Itachi replied "I do not take lives unnecessarily."

The leader frowned in disapproval.

A softer, more feminine voice spoke up "Could it be that you're attached Itachi-san? You see one life worth more than our cause?"

"I divulged nothing that could be potentially compromising." This was not a lie. Whatever information he had given wasn't enough to end the Akatsuki's ambitions. For now, anyway.

Pain did not incite fear in Itachi as he did with others, partially because Itachi held no fear to exploit – except one thing that Pain did not know and wouldn't know. Death could not faze him even slightly. The long haired man had a healthy degree of suspicion that Pain had planned to keep him alive for a long time.

Pain always regarded Itachi as someone very much like himself. Although he had yet to work out the truth behind the massacre, he knew the youngest member of the Akatsuki was a lover of peace and was willing to make sacrifices for it. Despite only having been 13 when he joined, time and time again he proved to be the most efficient, the most reliable and the most rational.

This high opinion of him was amplified by the fact that he seemed to be more focused on the cause than others, and didn't shy away from the prospect of death, not in the least preoccupied in becoming immortal.

He was a gifted man and a prodigy in all senses of the word. He could discuss a number of topics at length and always provided a valuable insight to things.

Most of the Akatsuki Pain thought of mere subordinates with lesser abilities to strategise than him. He expected them to obey his orders with no questions, and not enquire as to why. But Itachi was different. Itachi he regarded as his intellectual equal.

Which was why Itachi was still standing unmoved. Pain was most interested to hear the justification as he had never heard of Uchiha Itachi sparing a life due to anything except solid logic.

"Why did you spare her?" Pain asked in a deep tone, the words echoing in the cave.

"It would make Konoha suspicious."

"You are saying you lack the ability to kill her without attracting attention."

"It is not in the Akatsuki's best interests at present," Itachi explained "Haruno Sakura has made more friends than enemies in her time away from her village. Who would kill a relatively benign medic? Her enemies, although formidable, are few and far between and more want to kidnap her, hold her hostage as opposed to killing her. Why do you think Konoha sent her out? Her death would alert Konoha of a threat and almost immediately security would be raised."

Understanding lit Pain's eyes gradually.

"Also, she will make fine bait for the Kyuubi vessel in good time."

The other man nodded gravely, processing the explanation. "So I see, Itachi. You have a plan for her."

"Yes," Itachi crisply replied.

An indecipherable glint in Pain's eyes appeared as he said "You may leave now."

Just as the one he was addressing turned to leave, he added "Do not let me doubt your loyalties."

The threat was clear.

Another man, far different from the pair and certainly not someone the conversation was meant to be heard by, listened carefully outside. As he absorbed the information, a fresh plan formulated. A sinister smirk crept onto his sharp features, shrouded by the mask he wore.

"Tobi," The brief, curt acknowledgement broke the silence.

"Itachi-san!" Tobi trilled, sounding delighted, immediately in his normal demeanour.

His cheery greeting was met with a swift, threatening glare. Unspoken words hung heavy in the atmosphere until Itachi's gaze became blank once more. He walked right past, their shoulders brushing for one tense moment.

The dispute hadn't been voiced. Yet.

-0-

"Sasuke-sama!" Karin called out, racing towards the dark eyed figure.

His concentration broken, he turned around to face her, for once composed. Her attempt to latch herself onto his arm, however, was met with a low growl.

"Karin," he began "What is it?"

"I can feel the kunoichi's chakra," the redhead declared triumphantly.

Almost instantly Sasuke's head snapped up and his dull eyes became alert. "Where is she?"

"North west, somewhere in Oto,"

Karin waited exuberantly for the praise that had to leave his lips. None came and she deflated.

He briskly turned to return to where the rest of Hebi were passing time, grabbed his things then simply stated that they were leaving as the rest of Hebi hurried after him.

Sasuke felt his cool demeanour return to him for the first time in days. Here was a promising lead at last and no longer did his efforts feel like a wild goose chase. Soon he would find Sakura, before his elder brother, finally gaining a small victory over the loathed man. Her abilities would be an asset and perhaps, just perhaps she had substantial information.

After all, his brother was not one to pursue the weak or helpless.

Karin felt dejected. It seemed that no matter how useful she was, Sasuke would never regard her as anything other than that, useful. Not once did he bother praising her, thanking her, even conversing with her unless it was necessary.

When she first joined Hebi, she had been happy. Proud that Sasuke had deemed her worthy, proud to declare that she was needed by someone. She had never been part of a real team before, a group of people who would watch her back and in return she would watch theirs. There had been an odd sense of synergy; they would cooperate when it mattered. Juugo and Suigetsu didn't like her much nor was she particularly fond of them but the strange arrangement worked most of the time. The one gaping exception being Sasuke. Despite having handpicked the team himself, despite having such thorough knowledge of their abilities, he was the only one who didn't quite fit in.

The little things gave him away, like the way he would always position himself a slight distance from the rest, the way he never gathered around a camp fire, the fact that he made no attempt at causal discourse and Karin's favourite colour was of equal worth to him as whether Suna would host the cultural exchange trip for Konoha's academy students. Probably less, in fact.

At certain times he seemed to draw closer, became a little nearer to the team but then he withdrew so abruptly that it was difficult to say whether it even happened or she was deluding herself.

It wasn't fair, this preoccupation with this Sakura girl. Why was he obsessed with her and not Karin who served him loyally? A team mate for a year who he callously left behind couldn't possibly have more weight than a team mate he chose for himself, could they?

At that moment Karin experienced depression, some sort of anger, even betrayal to a certain extent – but most of all worthless. The crushing sentiment that she meant nothing, was only a reasonably good tool, seemed to shatter her insides ten times over then rip them out forcefully until she had nothing left.

This devastating feeling was fast becoming too familiar.

"Geez, Sasuke could slow down a little. And calm down too. It's not like her life is on the line," Suigetsu muttered, irritated, as Hebi struggled to keep up with their young leader.

Sasuke didn't even turn around to silence him with a vicious glare, continuing to glide to the trees as if he hadn't heard the comment.

"Sakura-san must be important to Sasuke-sama then." Juugo cautiously observed.

Karin twitched and sped up.

Otagakure was familiar territory to Sasuke, easy to navigate through and simple to seek things out in. If Sakura had chosen to hide there from him, she had picked the wrong place. Or maybe she had decided to end the pointless game of cat and mouse they played and was waiting for him there, the last place she had business to do in. Those were the logical options, yet he couldn't help but feel she meant something by waiting there for him, the place he left Konoha for. Like she was trying to prove a point, that he was wrong and she was right. It might have just been him over thinking the issue.

Either way, he raced forward; the thrill of a solid lead spurring him on.

Sakura may have been as lithe as a gazelle throughout this pursuit of sorts but even God himself had difficulty in deterring Sasuke from getting exactly what he wanted.

In his steps was a grace that even a dancer would envy; hesitation non-existent in his smooth movements. However, like everything he did, it was carefully calculated, every step planned in perfect accordance to the one preceding it. His posture never relaxed; continually tense as if in anticipation.

"Sasuke-sama!" a mature feminine voice, slightly rougher than usual, clearly rang out as the trees thinned and the group entered a clearing.

Descending onto the frost flaked grass, he turned around and waited expectantly.

Pointing to a heap of crumpled muddy clothes by a small lake, her nose wrinkled in evident distaste Karin simply said "Look."

Not fazed by the horrific stench, Sasuke calmly approached the bundle and picked up the distinct red article of clothing on top. A wooden frame encasing a photo slipped out.

After a brief examination of the thing in his hands, he dropped it, rapidly understanding why it had been discarded.

"It's Sakura's," he stated coolly to the waiting members of his team watching from a distance. She seemed to have gotten over her phobia of getting muddy.

Bending down once more he moved to see what had fallen to the floor whilst he had been observing the clothing. Wiping the mud off it, he froze in place – visibly caught off guard by the small, yet ever so significant item he clutched onto in his tight grip.

It was the official team photo, the only photo Team 7 ever took all together. Pale and trembling, he tried to push back the floodgate threatening to burst, push back the reserved arrogant twelve year old who had been something close to happy.

There was the bubbly naïve Sakura, smiling brightly and sincerely; he and Naruto facing opposite directions, looking immensely irritated and a tired Kakashi trying to keep the peace. The still photo seemed to animate itself before his eyes, vivifying that one moment until he was back in Konoha, a reminder of all that was and all that could have been.

"Sasuke, you ok? Saw any ghosts or was it just pinky's boyfriend?" Suigetsu teased to break the suddenly tense atmosphere.

Shoving the photograph casually into his pocket, Sasuke's walls were up again. The fleeting moment of vulnerability, although everyone caught it, seemed implausible.

"Karin." he began, his voice stoic once more "What is Sakura's position currently?"

Eager to please Karin confidently replied "East side of the main village."

Giving her a curt nod, he set off again letting Hebi follow his lead.

-0-

"Have you heard the rumours?"

"Yes," the unfeeling tenor barely concealed the slight tremble of his lips in excitement, his body almost leaning over like a woman picking up gossip at a marketplace.

"You intend to use this against her, I presume,"

"You're too smart for your own good, boy;" a harsh laugh followed his sentence "This is an opportunity that we must seize,"

There was a flash of warning in the other set of eyes. "Don't hurt her."

-0-

Sakura was tending to the needy once again, but mostly finishing off people's basic first aid and self defence training that she had started off. She knew she would be leaving soon and before then she would have liked to ensure that the people of Oto were as well equipped as possible.

She would miss being settled though and knowing people's faces. As much as she loved the thrill of adventure, risking her life for crucial scraps of information, being constantly on the move, always vigilant, did take its toll on someone eventually. The stability of having a place to return to was something that was rather undervalued in the world.

Despite only remaining in the ruined village for a handful of days she already felt a great fondness for it. It felt like everyone knew her and she knew them perfectly well. There was a real sense of belonging to a community, having friends and people who cared about her. She loved it and she didn't want to be alone again.

Although, a voice reminded her, she wasn't travelling alone this time around. Whether Sasuke's team (that didn't sound right even in her mind, she, Kakashi and Naruto were Sasuke's team) were amiable company was yet to be discovered. She certainly hoped they were as she wouldn't be able to stand being with hostile people 24/7. Perhaps, in a show of female solidarity, the redhead, Karin, would look upon her kindly. Then again nobody appreciated being duped, so perhaps not.

-0-

Stillness swept through the other side of the village. The few there had been vanished almost instantly and not even a hushed whisper found it carried in the airwaves, not a hasty mouthing of words found itself on lips. No one dared to move.

They sauntered in, arrogantly and an expression of distaste on their clean, sharp features. Their bodies lacked the sallow, coarseness that defined the village dying in poverty, the flab of excess skin stretching over nothing but bone, stomachs bloated by gas only and the ill paleness that came from malnourishment and disease. It was Hebi, whom the village held no sympathy for.

When Uchiha Sasuke first came, they had been curious but soon the faint interest died out as he proved to be just like the rest of the youths that had become the objects of Orochimaru's foul, twisted attention.

His choice of company was objectionable. Karin, the one who experimented on dozens of humans, permanently mutilating them at times – damning them to a life locked up in a cell – was loathsome, like a curse. And there was the bloodthirsty Suigetsu who they had heard particularly enjoyed cutting off many limb – sometimes committing these atrocities for no better reason than fun. Juugo was the only member of Hebi the villagers found remotely pitiable; but still he was regarded as an uncontrollable monster.

It was hard to stop the paralysing fear slinking up behind their necks when faced with a merciless collection of individuals that had ruined the village from the inside.

Insusceptible to the raw, unadulterated terror Sasuke calmly marched up to one man. "Take me to Haruno Sakura."

The weary man, approaching old age, shook.

"Sasuke-sama, leave him. I can find her," Karin protested in vain.

"Have you forgotten Otogakure's defences to prevent trackers like you?"

Defeated, she didn't reply.

His tone icier, and more commanding, he turned back to the man. "Take me to her."

Despite the man's body being fraught with fright, in a shaky voice his voice still managed weakly "No,"

The solid refusal to comply shocked Sasuke. Truth told he wasn't used to his wishes being denied like that, particularly from someone who was clearly very afraid of him.

A gathering crowd watched with widened eyes, half scared, half offended. One young woman let out a desperate cry and ran, tears rolling down her ashen cheeks.

Unsheathing his blade, glistening ruthlessly, he ordered once more "Take me to her,"

The man still shook his head, resolute. He knew far too well the fate of those searched for by Sound nin. And that was not a fate he wished upon anyone. Sasuke, perhaps, did not torture those who interested him but far too many shinobi had been disposed of by his hands just so he could 'train'. One of those had been the man's own son.

Feebly, in his rugged accent, he said "Sakura-san is not your next challenge,"

As if she was even strong enough. Sasuke agreed. "Hn, she isn't."

"You know nothing!" the man yelled, bloodshot eyes almost popping out in hatred. He figured that if he was going to die, let his voice not go unheard. "Nothing! You seek nothing but power, care for no one but yourself. How could you understand what Sakura-san has done for us when your heart knows nothing but hatred? You only seek to destroy! Your strength is meaningless, you have no strength! You don't know what it's like to care!"

Sasuke ran out of patience. "Don't ever," he hissed, low and deadly "Talk like you understand me."

And he slashed the jugular vein with a single, clean swipe.

The man, so heated up just a moment prior, fell to the floor, blood spilling out of his neck as he died.

Sakura rushed in.

Sasuke froze; suddenly numb, vaguely aware that he had just killed in front of her. He had lost control. Again. A mistake that seemed to repeat itself over and over, just say the right words and the monster within him would claw itself out.

She paid no heed to him as she ran towards the dead man, desperately trying to bring him back to life. Her arrival had been too late, and she knew it.

"Don't bother," Karin sneered coldly. This was the person who had caused her so much misery and she would not show any kindness to this strange pink haired jinx with ethics "He's dead already."

"What did you do that for? Huh?" Sakura shouted, indignant.

"Why do you care so much? People die all the time."

"Karin," Sasuke reprimanded icily.

She relented.

"Sakura," no one missed the difference in tone, except maybe Sasuke himself "Come with me."

The crowd was taken back. What could such a monster possibly want with their goddess? But surely she wouldn't agree to his outrageous proposal, would she?

"Why did you kill him?" the question was a bitter one, full of loathing. "Don't you understand the value of a human life?"

"Perhaps it's you who doesn't understand," he retorted, his temper being lost. It wasn't like he'd intended to kill the man but he had a low tolerance level for fools who pretended to know more than they did. "If you understood, you'd know my need for vengeance."

"You never let me in close enough to understand that!"

He would not lose control. He would not give her so much importance that he'd lose control due to her. In a frostily composed manner he said "He killed my family. What is there to understand?"

"And what did this man have to do with Itachi? He did nothing!"

Sasuke winced, as if in physical pain, at the name. "He spoke of thing he knew nothing of."

"So that's enough to warrant a murder? Huh?"

He shot her a steely glare. "You're annoying." Even he looked a little startled by his word choice.

Sakura shuddered like she had been visited by a transient ghost. It was just a phrase, she chided herself, and something he probably called everyone. It had no meaning.

"Sakura," he said once more "Come."

It was a clear command.

She didn't back down and stood defiant.

Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu watched; fascinated by the heated exchange.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" she wasn't yelling anymore but was still shaking with fury "Last time I offered to come by myself and what did you do then? _You left me on a bench."_

This kind of talk should have been illegalised, in Sasuke's opinion. What on earth was he supposed to say to that?

"You're the one who said you'd do anything for me," his voice was almost sarcastic "Or is that not valid anymore?"

"And you're the one who rejected it so no it isn't valid anymore," she shot back as irate as he was.

"I never said no," he muttered so quietly that no one else heard. "Karin, Suigetsu round up the villagers."

"Wai-What?" Sakura snapped. "I'm warning you don't touch the villagers or I'll kill you myself,"

Sasuke actually snorted. "Like you could; Sakura, you and I both know my team could easily decimate this entire village within minutes."

As if on cue, Suigetsu flashed a maniacal pointy smile at her, ever so casually shifting his shoulders so she could see his gigantic sword.

"You wouldn't." She glowered at him, disgusted.

"If you 'understand the value of life'," Sasuke mimicked tauntingly "Join me or those villagers will die."

It was said like a challenge, like he was testing her.

She gazed at the crowd, staring at those fearful, pleading faces and sighed – resigned to her fate.

Shoulders slumped, Sakura spat out acrimoniously "Fine!" and then added "Let me go get my stuff."

Sasuke gave a short nod of permission.

No one accompanied her as she miserably trudged down the trodden streets. There was no need to as, with the villagers at stake, she would definitely return. This was both good and bad because as much as she wanted to be alone she also didn't want to contemplate too much.

Her reluctance wasn't down to the fact she disliked Sasuke (besides, she had a pact to honour), it was just that she felt so insecure, so uneasy with him at the moment. The speed, the brutal ease with which he killed an innocent, it honestly scared her.

She had seen many 'scary' things whilst being with Sasuke – because of him and Naruto being so unique her adolescent years were far from normal and safe even by ninja standards.

But no matter how terrifying Sasuke could be, even with his curse seal activated, she'd never seen him kill someone who didn't fight.

Gathering up her stuff was a five minute job, leaving to face the world was something a little more difficult and took much longer.

Depressed, uncomfortable, angry and just plain negative was how the young kunoichi felt. Lost and confused, she just sat down to think.

Despite having a plan, despite knowing Sasuke had changed, despite all her vows not to let her emotions interfere; it had still gone pear shaped. Plans always went awry when you involved a person who was not in on it.

If she knew her leaving of Konoha would result in all of this, she would have never offered herself up for the job. Of course it was too late now and, to be honest, she didn't regret a thing. And a reunion with Sasuke, no matter how turbulent her emotions were at the moment, no matter how unsure she was, was something she wouldn't pass up for the world. Naruto wouldn't either, and how disappointed he would be in her if she said she didn't want to see Sasuke.

Perhaps, perhaps just by staying close to his side and just being a friend instead of striving for more; she could soothe the pain, and at the very least bandage up the wounds that were still bleeding and protect him from gaining more. She knew she couldn't fix him that was a stupid thought because Sasuke wasn't a broken object; he was just a human carrying such a heavy weight on his shoulders, just like Itachi. The scars from the past would always remain, inerasable but she could do what she could to make the future better. Her heart ached for the Uchiha brothers, their lives so unnecessarily tragic.

Exhaustion started to creep in, after the day's activities of getting out of an underground base with limited chakra, treating people and of course Sasuke would always wear her out. Realising that if she kept sitting any longer she would most likely fall asleep, she stood up with new resolve.

It was time to make her way back to where Sasuke was and grin and bear whatever happened next.

Sasuke briefly acknowledged her arrival with a small glance her direction then turned to leave. There was a collective sigh of relief from the crowd, their lives would be spared.

As Hebi prepared to set off to follow Sasuke, Karin felt the need to inform Sakura of her place, and show that there would be no kindness from her. "Watch out pinky," she leered unpleasantly "Sasuke-sama doesn't like you much."

It was a snide comment, at best, and Sakura been through worse bullying in kunoichi classes. "Tell me something I don't know" she replied offhandedly, adjusting her backpack's position on her shoulders.

**A/N: Hurrah they finally meet!** **Was it good enough or was it out of character? Just to clarify Sasuke wasn't really planning to kill a whole village; he just said that so Sakura would stop arguing with him. Expect updates to be sporadic from now onwards; I barely find enough time to sleep let alone write. **

**Thank you to every single reviewer for motivating me to write more (and people who put this on story alerts and favourites). You are all awesomely kind people!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I really cannot apologise enough for the absolutely deplorably slow update. I don't even have an excuse apart from sheer laziness. For those still in there and reading, thank you for sticking with me. For those who have given up, I can understand why.**

Travelling with Hebi was an unusual experience. There seemed to be no teamwork or communication whatsoever, although that could have been just Sakura's biased view. After all, on the surface, Team 7 was the perfect example of a completely dysfunctional arrangement; everyone thought it had been doomed to fail from the start.

'_Then again it did,'_ a snide voice remarked in her head. Sakura wisely chose not to dwell on it and suddenly find herself wallowing in memories of what was lost and what could have been.

Did this group even have some semblance of a squad formation? From what she knew of their abilities their positioning seemed random. Perhaps she was wrong and they had made this formation from long before, however, surely they would have to modify it to include a new person like her who could already sense at least three opportunities to make an escape. However, she did have a bargain to uphold.

Sasuke didn't even seem concerned whether or not his team was still behind him; of course that was yet another display of his distinctive arrogance, he felt entirely certain his team would follow him. Sakura knew he could quite easily halt anyone attempting to leave his little party if he wanted to. There was no necessity to take precautions.

Not a soul engaged in idle chatter. For someone like the young pink haired woman, who had always been placed with relatively sociable people in the many squads she'd been in, this felt strange. Although when silence was required, they were focused, but when they were just travelling there would inevitably be some form of gossip going on. This was not the case in Sasuke's team.

Luckily their speed was similar to hers so she had no difficulty in keeping up with the group; in fact it was relatively undemanding pace. Propelling herself off a tree, she tried to reconcile what she'd learnt about Hebi so far as she moved through the green of the forest. Suigetsu had very sharp teeth, Zabuza's sword (she recognised it the moment she got a good look) and the rest was a mystery – though he seemed to be the most boisterous. Karin disliked her, probably because the redhead viewed her as a threat to winning Sasuke's affections. Sakura knew that kind of glare and spiteful tone well, after all it hadn't been so long ago that she had been doing exactly the same and having exactly the same done to her. In hindsight, it all seemed very shallow and meaningless. Karin would have to grow up at some point as well – Sasuke didn't care for love and he had made it painfully clear to her the night he walked away. He had made it painfully clear when Naruto returned barely alive, painfully clear on the day he said he spared Naruto's life merely on a whim.

She often thought it had been her fault for not being strong enough, for being blind to all his suffering and only seeing him as the cool dark prince she infatuated over. For only chasing after his disappearing back as he walked further and further into the dark. But she'd be damned if she didn't pull him out his self destructive path this time. She only wished she had Naruto to help her.

Juugo hadn't said a word to her before they set off travelling and nobody was talking now, so he was pretty much an enigma to her. He seemed quite gentle though, judging by the way his face displayed no pleasure when Sasuke had threatened to kill the villagers.

The only one she knew anything substantial about was Sasuke, but that was all about his past and she knew nothing of about him now. He had changed to the point she could hardly recognise him. That thought depressed her slightly but then she thought that Sasuke must have had difficulty recognising her too, because she too had grown up and changed as immensely as him.

Too busy in her thoughts, she failed to notice that each leap was getting harder than the last, seemed to take more out of her; her breaths became more ragged, more like harsh pants. She, at first right behind Sasuke, started to lag behind and linger on branches.

Karin saw the problem immediately. Sakura's chakra levels were so low it was a miracle she was even conscious. What she had been doing that could take up so much chakra was beyond Karin. The small burst of chakra channelled to the feet that shinobi used for quick travel would soon render the latest addition to their group unconscious if she kept doing it. Despite knowing all this, Karin made no move to aid her new female companion, where she had grown up it was every one for themselves. If someone couldn't keep up, well tough. She had never been told to go out of her way to help people, unless they were needed. It wasn't as if Sakura's chakra levels were fatally low, it was more that the natural process of replenishing the chakra seemed stunted, therefore she was being gradually drained with no hope of renewing the chakra. Karin knew what caused this, a lack of nutrition.

Karin couldn't care less. If the girl had been starving herself, she could starve to death. It was her responsibility to look after herself, not Karin's.

Sakura soon spotted her slowing down and her blurry tired thoughts. But she didn't feel like pointing it out to Sasuke that something was wrong, he'd either glare and make a scathing remark or act like he hadn't heard. His coldness was something she would have to get re-accustomed to. The best course of action would be to slow down, stop using her chakra to glide and just use her body's strength like Tsunade had taught her to. She felt a sudden surge of affection for her old mentor, and she regretted thinking that such skills were pointless when Tsunade first announced she would learn them.

Of course, even proceeding using no chakra wouldn't be sustainable for over another half an hour or so; she could only pray that wherever they were heading they would arrive soon. Perhaps she had been overworking herself, trying to do more than she could do. The small smiles she had received made it worth it though.

It took time for Sasuke to realise as he never looked behind him, however, soon he felt the absence of the floral vanilla scent wafting towards his nose (this absence he welcomed, the scent was a little bit too much for him although he wondered how on earth she even had that scent considering how much time she spent outdoors) and the occasional flash of pink he caught at times. But as long as she could keep up and hadn't tried to make an escape attempt (Karin would definitely inform him of that) her exact position wouldn't matter. They were nearly there now anyway so he pressed on, accelerating slightly.

In a while they had reached the outskirts of a city. He descended gracefully and the rest of the team followed suit.

Sakura, despite being so dizzy she couldn't see straight, still managed to land on her feet - stumbling a little.

"I'm going to faint," she dryly informed, expecting no sympathy from the group watching her curiously. Her voice slurring slightly as she staggered "Someone catch me and get some wa –

The pang in her head became splitting, she couldn't see a thing – she couldn't help but emit a small wince of pain. Feeling herself falling, she blacked out.

She hadn't fallen immediately into someone's arms. In fact as she swayed and stumbled out disoriented, Hebi just watched the scene unfold, peering at her to see if she really would faint. Karin had stepped back immediately, so the responsibility of catching Sakura would not fall onto her, with a mild look of contempt on her face. Suigetsu was interested in observing, but clearly not interested in doing anything about.

Sasuke had felt paralysed by some strange form of something resembling concern and his desperate need to maintain his nonchalance. He felt like reaching out and grabbing her but at the same time running far away from the scene. He clenched his fists and walked away, slowly, calmly.

In the end it was Juugo who very hesitantly scooped the young woman before she could hit the ground and injure herself, gently placing her on the ground, flat on her back as first aid dictated.

Sasuke reappeared with the water Sakura had asked for. He seemed to have resolved his inner conflict for his face appeared much smoother and his fists unclenched.

It took Sakura around five minutes to return to the world of the living. The first thing she registered was that there was no one hovering over her concerned but she realised that she was not travelling with her team back home but with a group of people who could care less about her. Judging by her position, someone had taken out the trouble to catch her and placing her on her back. There was also a cup of water besides her, catching sight of that made her smile very slightly. Team Hebi did have compassion after all. Gradually sitting up and rubbing her eyes she noticed the nearest on to her was the orange haired burly man, Juugo. The one she marked as the peaceful one for some reason or another probably because he was the only one who had displayed no pleasure at the threatened violence earlier on in the day.

"Sakura-san," he said, almost shyly "You're awake."

He looked so anxious, like a kid on his first day of school wishing he had made a run for it, Sakura couldn't help but warm to him. It seemed that she had found a friend. But then just as he opened his mouth to say something, he began twitching violently, covering his face as if he was ashamed. Sakura, worried, began to approach him.

To her surprise it was Suigetsu who held her back. "Trust me pinky, you don't want to go near him like this."

"But he's in pain!" she protested, vainly trying to wrangle herself out of his firm hold.

The white haired man's grip was unrelenting. "Keep at that and you'll be the one in pain," he cautioned, not understanding why this kunoichi had no sense of self preservation.

Before she could argue further with him or use force to break free, Sasuke stepped forward.

"Juugo," he said coolly "Calm down,"

Juugo looked up, staring into the stern gaze of the young black haired man still in his teenage years.

As Sakura watched, indignant at being restrained from helping, the convulsing man seemed to catch a handle on himself, uncertainly peering through his hands, His eyes lost the sudden deranged look that had overcome them for a moment and his breathing returned to normal.

"Sorry Sasuke-sama," he hastily apologised, anxiety in his tone,

Sasuke didn't respond at all, just sauntering off into the distance.

Sakura would have very much liked to have yelled at him, telling him that a good team leader would have offered reassurances and not ignored the apology, but as she stared at his retreating back (she was awfully familiar with his retreating back, she mused for an absurd moment) and opened her mouth to speak her mind, she was robbed of her vocal cords.

Whatever that strange fit had been, she knew Juugo was not a bad person. She was going to be friends with him, no matter what.

Suigetsu observed the scene, loosening his old on the kunoichi, waiting for her to wrinkle her nose in disgust and turn away from Juugo. She didn't. Calmly finishing her water, she approached him still smiling kindly. "Hi," she said, looking unconcerned with whatever it was she had just seen "I'm Sakura,"

Inwardly, she smacked herself, he already knew her name – he was part of the team who had been pursuing her for the past few months! She held out her hand to show that she meant friendship. Juugo looked alarmed, widening his eyes marginally. For a moment he looked as if he was going to accept but then he recoiled in shame.

Mistaking his reluctance to be a sign of dislike, Sakura dropped her proffered hand and merely said a slightly hurt sounding "Oh,"

Juugo noticed the hurt frown on the kunoichi's face and tried to explain. "You shouldn't," he mumbled, only halfway coherent in his nervousness "Be friends with me, I mean. I'm a very bad person. I…" he struggled a little not liking the unpleasant truth in his head "I-I go berserk sometimes, I could hurt you."

Understanding lit her eyes and she smiled, almost radiantly so. "I don't think you're a bad person. You don't want to hurt people and that's what makes the difference. Everyone has the ability to hurt others, that doesn't make everyone bad people, does it?"

He said nothing but Sakura could see she was getting through to him so she continued "One of my friends –

Then she abruptly shut up. She bit her lip for a moment, honestly considering telling him the truth about Naruto but he was travelling with Sasuke. Their loyalty to Konoha was zilch. Although she didn't like to think that her company for an unspecified period of time were not to be trusted it was the truth. By definition they were all missing nin.

Realising Juugo was waiting for her to finish her sentence she quickly said "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that."

"I understand Sakura-san," he was not offended in the slightest by her reluctance to tell him. After all, in the shinobi world secrecy was a natural aspect of life.

She smiled pleasantly at him, grateful for his empathy.

"Do you know why you fainted?" he inquired, concerned "We were all very worried about you,"

The last statement was perhaps not the most truthful but Sasuke had left to get some water which must have meant something and his brow had furrowed increasingly every minute she spent unconscious.

"Not eating enough," she admitted ruefully "It sometimes slips my mind; you know ,when I'm really busy, Plus in the past few weeks, well eating was the last thing on my mind so it barely ever entered my head to eat unless I saw food."

"Why?" he asked.

"Well it could be due to the fact that Sasuke was chasing me around, hindering my mission whilst I had to chase after the Akat –

She stopped mid-sentence, remembering that that was classified information. It took just one slip of the tongue…

"Akatsuki?" Suigetsu strolled up to the pair "You're hot by the way,"

"Thanks for the compliment," she said dryly, not amused "None of your concern,"

"Aw, don't be like that pinky. You're part of the team now," he gave a wide smirk, displaying all of his pointy white teeth.

"By common definition I am a captive. I was forced here against my will," (although that wasn't technically true, it would look suspicious if she looked too happy with the arrangements) she stared at him right in the eye "Also my name is not pinky,"

"C'mon, lighten up. You were chatting so nicely to Juugo there," he said "Can't we be friends? Although I wouldn't mind being more than that if you catch my drift…" his voice trailed off and he winked suggestively.

Karin just watched, increasingly irritated. She was the only one, apart from Sasuke, who had yet to move to welcome the… addition. Karin always observed first, sussing people out. It was her specialty; she had quickly discovered that analysing chakra and analysing people were that different from each other. In most instances, people's chakra was often a massive giveaway to their character.

For example Sakura's chakra was an average amount in a soothing green colour, flowing gently through the body at a stubbornly consistent rate. That told Karin what she needed to know about her personality, average and gentle but steadfast and determined. Easy to read, just like her chakra.

Sasuke's chakra, on the other hand, was much more complex. It was dark and erratic and didn't come one the form of simple straight lines but in sharp jagged patterns, indicating his constant tense state of emotional volatility.

"I have no interest in your vulgarities," Sakura deadpanned frostily in a tone that could rival Itachi's cool threatening one. If it had been Naruto she would have smacked him over the head for being a pervert but Naruto was a friend of hers. This man she knew little about apart from the way he casually displayed his sword when presented with the opportunity to kill. She wouldn't be surprised if he secretly resented being deprived of getting some action.

"Interested in Sasuke's vulgarity then, eh? He probably wants you that way… or why bother chasing you for so long?"

That was the limit. Clenching her fists she punched him right in the face, sending him flying into a nearby tree, "I am not a whore," she said through gritted teeth "And I will break every bone in your body if you imply it again. Besides Sasuke's gay."

Wincing from the pain he muttered something similar to 'crazy bitch' before erupting into raucous laughter at the last statement. Even Juugo gave a tentative chuckle.

Karin scowled. Who did the girl think she was, insulting someone much more powerful than her? She would give her a piece of her mind.

Hearing the commotion, Sasuke made his way back to where his team sat. Examining the scene, he narrowed his eyes.

"Pinky broke my nose," Suigetsu said, his voice sounding slightly whiney due to the difficulty he had speaking with his nose being at an odd angle.

Sasuke turned to the one accused "Fix it,"

"No," Sakura replied "He deserved it."

"Don't be childish Sakura," his eyes narrowed into cold slits.

"I'll do it," Karin piped up, hoping to stop Sasuke losing his temper.

"No way," Suigetsu protested "She is not going anywhere near my nose, she'll ruin my good features."

Sasuke ignored both of them as if they hadn't said anything "Why don't you show us your ability, Sakura?" Sasuke's voice took on a slightly mocking tone, more out of impatience than actual cruelty or ill intent.

Her normally soft tone hardened immediately. "I have no need to prove myself to you!" suddenly turning shrill she added "After all you'll always see me as a burden!"

She left him looking aghast. This wasn't the Sakura he knew, the Sakura who would obey his every whim and fancy. After a period of determined silence, he sighed, tired of the argument. "Just bite Karin, Suigetsu,"

Sakura's ears pricked up in interest. "You can heal people?" she asked, turning to the redhead.

"Yes," Karin replied rather snootily "They just need to bite my arm."

"Wow, that's neat," Sakura said, fascinated.

"I don't think it puts bones back to their right places, but I think Suigetsu can live with a crooked nose,"

The other female laughed "Yes I think he can too,"

At this point Suigetsu started violently protesting and cursing, saying in a rather profane way that there was no way that he was going to tolerate a crooked nose.

"Reset the damn bone Sakura," Sasuke glared at no one in particular, tired of wasting so much time on a broken nose.

Exhausted by the argument Sakura gave up resistance "Fine,"

With one forceful tug she pushed his nose back into and fixed it up, more than slightly pleased with her earlier handiwork (Suigetsu screaming 'Ow, ow, ow!' really did boost her mood). After the relatively simple procedure was done she simply tossed him a handkerchief and told him to clean up the blood himself.

Not sparing a glance at Sasuke, she walked over to her bag and fished for some food rations. They did not taste nice but she doubted Sasuke would look upon her kindly if she fainted a second time or if her stomach gave away her hunger by emitting a nasty growl. Grimacing whilst swallowing the tasteless dry powder (it didn't spoil) in neat little sachets tasting suspiciously like cardboard, she looked up at the raven haired man now towering over her.

"What?" she said, uncomfortable against his stony gaze.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, immediately distrustful of her.

"Eating my food rations," she explained, stiffening at his harsh tone. Before he could comment she tacked on "I fainted due to a lack of nutrition."

"Why didn't you have the sense to eat something then?" he practically sneered. Couldn't she take care of herself? What was Konoha thinking, sending out a girl who didn't even eat? "Or were you on a diet?"

"There were people who needed the food more than me," she responded quietly but coldly, bristling at his scathing manner.

"So that was what you were doing in Oto? Being a selfless soul and giving a helping hand? Does Konoha know that their kunoichi tend to find more worthy causes than their actual mission?" Sasuke spoke in an icy, cutting tenor whilst inwardly he cursed her compassion that led her to care more for others than she cared for herself whereas he had stopped caring altogether. All that mattered to him was avenging his clan, caring could come afterwards.

Her temper was reaching its breaking point "What Konoha knows or does not know is none of your concern considering you don't give a shit about the village!"

"You're right about that," he said curtly.

She stood up shaking, ignoring the rest of Hebi who were curiously watching the scene unfold from a cautious distance. "You don't care about anything, do you?"

He tensed, clenching his fists, both looking and feeling somewhat disconcerted. "Hn,"

Soundlessness prevailed for a while. He had questions to which he wanted clear cut answers. She wanted answers to questions she didn't even know herself.

Suddenly he grabbed her by the wrist and began dragging her back to where the rest of Hebi sat; waiting for the two to return so they could talk strategy. The moment she registered the tugging force on her wrist, she wrenched herself free with sharp force.

It felt like silence was shattering the snow globes they both respectively thought they lived in. Both Sakura and Sasuke seemed momentarily dumbstruck by what she had just done.

He turned and gave her a withering glare.

Sakura scowled, acidly saying "I can walk myself, thank you very much," before stomping off back to where he was intending to drag her.

He followed after her, a dark aura emanating from him.

The group of five sat down in something that vaguely resembled a circle, Sasuke at a small distance away from everybody else, as per usual.

"Sakura," he began, directly addressing her, his onyx eyes locking on hers "Why were you enquiring after the Akatsuki?"

She met his hard stare unflinchingly. "That's none of your concern, Uchiha."

"You took the medical file of an Akatsuki member. Why?" he asked again, trying to maintain his steady, stoic tone as the unfamiliarly cold 'Uchiha' echoed in his ears. Where ever did the Sasuke-kun go?

Thinking that it was best not to be too stubborn, she lied "Akatsuki are infamous for their strength and power. Being a medic, I was interested to see if there was anything about their bodies that was unusual."

If she had said it in the same slight furious tone as she had spoken in previously, the lie might not have even been caught out. Maybe even if Karin had not been there (who immediately hissed that she had been lying), the lie wouldn't have been caught. But as it happened the preparedness of her voice gave her away.

"Don't lie, Sakura," he said testily "If that was true then why the medical file of just one member? Why not all of them?"

There was no answer.

His patience wearing thin, he said "Tell me which one," although he already felt fairly sure he knew who it was.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath "Uchiha Itachi."

Everyone looked a little taken aback.

Sasuke lost it. "What the fuck? Why? Tell me why, damn it, or I swear to god I'll kill you!"

This situation wasn't something Sakura had anticipated. She never knew they knew that she had collected a medical file (well more than one, but they only knew of one). She never imagined she'd have to explain herself about it. Taking another deep breath she simply said "I have my reasons,"

It was a poor attempt at best. It proved to be too much for Sasuke who growled, the suddenly stood up and lunged towards her. Pulling her up to his height, he slammed her against a tree; his nails digging into her shoulders as his grip tightened.

Even the onlookers winced at the reverberating sound of the thud of Sakura's body against the tree.

Sakura couldn't even find it in her to flinch as she gazed at Sasuke's face, drained of all colour, onyx eyes dark and seething.

"Fuck, Sakura. Why?" his voice turned desperate and confused, trying to comprehend her. He shouted "Did you just do this to spite me? Huh?"

Shaking her roughly by the shoulders, he yelled "Speak damn it!"

She knew she had to respond, with her heart pounding wildly against her chest, and all her instincts screaming that Uchiha Sasuke was dangerous. "Because… because, it's hard to explain damn it…" she attempted "Please let me go and I'll try explaining, it's a long story."

"Just say it now!" he growled, needing an answer he could understand.

"There were rumours" she winced, as the pain his grip was causing her started to register in her fear-filled mind "There were rumours that…"

"What?" he pressed.

"That Itachi was terminally ill, I thought I'd see if it was true" she blurted out in one breath. She wondered if Itachi would be angry if he knew she said it, after all she hadn't actually said he was ill. She sincerely hoped this didn't count as betraying his trust. Although sharing this titbit to a missing nin was already enough to put her on criminal trial in the Elders' judgmental eyes – no one in Konoha was meant to know anything about Itachi.

"Can you please let me go now?" she asked, her voice the smallest Sasuke had heard it since he found her in Oto.

He grunted, still looking angry, but nonetheless releasing her from his tight grip.

Too exhausted to keep on her feet, she slumped down by the side of the tree, wishing she could sleep. Her whole body still ached from being slammed against a tree and she could feel bruises forming on her shoulders.

Sasuke stared down at the diminished looking girl, too tired to even lift her hands to soothe any of her various aches, and felt a twinge of something indefinable. He knew he had gone too far.

"Is she okay?" Juugo asked, genuinely concerned.

Suigetsu walked over, peering down at her. "Dude, you went way too far with that. I mean honestly, I thought you were going to kill her or something,"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

Even Karin, although she said nothing, looked a bit worried.

"I'm fine," Sakura finally said in her normal voice, getting up. "And Sasuke, there are better ways of getting people to tell you information. Try asking nicely for one."

She gave him the smallest of smiles and Sasuke couldn't tell if it was sad or cynical. But at least the alien 'Uchiha' had vanished, replaced with a Sasuke – admittedly the '-kun' was absent.

Dusting herself, Sakura began walking.

"Where are you going?" he asked coolly.

"To my bag, I need bruising salve for my shoulders," she replied, equally calm.

Before she could even blink, he had tossed it over to her. "Here,"

"Thanks," she gave a genuine smile. It felt like he was apologising, although inside she knew she was being ridiculous.

They both walked over back to the circle. As she rubbed the salve underneath her clothes, Sasuke continued questioning her, this time more calm and collected.

"Sakura, you said Itachi might be ill. Is it correct?" The idea that an illness, that a mere illness could end his brother, his brother who appeared to be the wall that he could not climb, made Sasuke's blood run cold. How could an illness pull off so easily what he had been aspiring to do since he was eight? Could it be that this illness would rob him of his vengeance, could his life be wasted due to this illness? His fists clenched.

The pink haired kunoichi looked up and gulped. "Would you like to see my research?

He gave a curt nod. Sticking her arm in her relatively heavy bag, she withdrew her large and battered folder. She gestured for everyone to gather closer. However, before she could even flick it open, Sasuke had snatched it from her hands. She just gaped at the tall figure, now completely engrossed in her workings.

Every now and again he would point to a term he didn't understand and ask her its meaning. She would explain, still aghast at the interest he was taking in Itachi's medical condition.

Suigetsu and Karin were bickering yet he paid them no mind. Sakura explained the contents of her folder to Juugo who looked interested, whilst Sasuke continued reading.

A small smile played on Sakura's lips as she watched Sasuke read. Anyone could tell that somewhere in him, he did care about Itachi – maybe not for the right reasons but he cared. It wasn't often she saw someone willing to plough through her pages of medical research the way he was, with genuine interest in the content. Naruto got bored of it ('as long as you can stitch me up, I don't care Sakura-chan!' were his exact words) and Sai found it dull. She didn't dare talk about healing and medicine with Kakashi, his sadness became tangible in the air and he would make an excuse to bolt off almost immediately.

At long last he closed her folder, pale and shaking. Before anyone could say anything he stated "I'm going to train," and with that disappeared into the forest.

"Eh?" Suigetsu looked up "What just happened?"

No one offered him an explanation. Sakura's brow wrinkled with concern; perhaps it was far too soon to tell Sasuke about his brother's illness. She just didn't know what else to do. How did he know she had taken a medical file anyway? Then she truly felt like smacking herself. Of course Sasuke wasn't going to be running after her for no reason; he wouldn't be running after anyone or anything that didn't relate to Itachi. She should have realised this long before, should have prepared long before. As she twiddled her fingers, she was resolute. Training wasn't going to help him digest anything.

Getting up suddenly, she began running in the direction she had seen him go.

"If you interrupt his training, it's your funeral, pinky!" Suigetsu called out after her but she paid him no mind.

"Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu," Sasuke watched, with some degree of satisfaction, as his fireball filled the clearing he had found. He liked this jutsu, the one that had won his father's acknowledgement. Over the years he had discovered that blowing fire out of your mouth was a good form of stress release, something that somehow nursed him when he was at his most volatile. It was this jutsu that had made him worthy of wearing the Uchiha fan on his back; he knew that whatever else he had done, this jutsu was right. If only it could make everything else right too.

"I always thought that one was pretty cool," a distinctly female voice said from behind him.

He turned around to see Sakura smiling gently. "Leave," he ordered emotionlessly. He didn't need her to see this.

Sakura was not hindered by his command. She quietly asked "Are you okay?"

He didn't dare turn round to face her again because everything on his face was screaming 'I'm not okay'. Heck he might as well have had it written on his forehead. So he didn't answer at all.

She put her hand on his shoulder and he moved away as if something had burned him. Knowing that speaking was probably the worst thing she could do at the moment, she stood by him and waited for the breakdown.

It came. "How the fuck can I be okay?" he said, trembling with fists so tightly clenched his nails dug into his skin, more to himself than anything "All my life I've been trying to kill him and a disease, a fucking disease is killing him first. I'm trying to kill a dying man!"

He let out a harsh, bitter laugh.

"Sasuke," she comforted, at a loss for words. He seemed to be in so much pain, and she had caused it. God, she was so stupid. She could have made up any half-truth about why she wanted Itachi's medical file (except a direct lie, she had noticed that Karin picked them up) but oh no she just had to pick that one.

"I feel so cheated," he muttered darkly "That fucking bastard just has to be two steps ahead of me, just has to rob me of avenging the clan he destroyed. How can I emerge the victor of any battle I fight with him, knowing that he would have died anyway?"

Sakura couldn't take his agony any longer "Sasuke, it's okay. Someone healed him. Your victory will be perfectly valid"

His head made a sharp turn and he faced her, suddenly alert. He regarded her curiously for a moment before something appeared to click in his head. "He wanted you, you were the medic… he told me that he was closer to acquiring you…" he looked at her accusingly "It was you, wasn't it?"

When she made no answer, he took it as confirmation "You had all the research on how to heal him too, all done in detail…" his voice trailed off before growing louder and more desperate "God, tell me he forced you. He forced you, didn't he?"

Not trusting herself to speak, she merely nodded. For one fleeting moment, she thought she would be slammed into a tree again. Perhaps that slamming would be better than the unnerving silence that felt as if it was going to explode at any moment.

"Tell me," he finally spoke, slowly and unsurely, his posture still tense "Why should I trust you?"

"You don't have to," she answered gently, knowing he didn't want explanations or excuses "You can just let me go my merry way and never have anything to do with me again. Or you could kill me, but I have to warn you I'll put up a fight."

Her calm answer appeared relax him a little.

He was still shaking though "You saw him… you've been with him. You've… you've aided him," he spat out the word 'aided' as if it was filthy.

She said nothing.

"Did he ever speak of me?" he asked suddenly.

'_Yes,' _she thought in her head _'yes in fact the only reason I'm here is because he told me to watch over you and report on your progress.'_ She couldn't possibly voice out that in real life so instead she replied "Yes. He asked how strong you were now."

"What did you say?"

"I told him I didn't know because I hadn't seen you for years."

"He called me 'foolish little brother', didn't he?" he asked, as if acknowledgment of that would somehow soothe him.

Sakura felt the strange urge to snort at that question. But she said yes anyway, perhaps sensing that he needed the familiarity to calm him down.

He gave her an odd appraising look "You've changed, Sakura."

Her response was a smile tinged with sadness "You've changed much more,"

-0-

Back at where Hebi waited, they had now set up a fire; they were eagerly discussing what the outcome of Sakura disrupting Sasuke's training would be.

"I don't think she's dead," Suigetsu drawled lazily "Pinky'd make a hell load of noise before she'd go down."

"If Sasuke-sama wanted to kill her he could have done so before she could even react," Karin argued back.

"Maybe," Suigetsu conceded thoughtfully "Shame though, if she is dead. I quite liked her. Made a change for someone to be behaving like a banshee to Sasuke instead of me,"

"I'm sure Sakura-san isn't dead," Juugo said anxiously.

"If she's not dead, then at least near dead. No one interrupts Sasuke when he's training," Suigetsu nodded as he spoke, finger on chin.

"I'd hate to be her, but she had it coming," Karin shivered, thinking of the wrath she would have incurred.

"I'm not dead, however, thanks for the concern," Sakura skipped in, her voice floating behind Hebi.

The group jumped in surprise. "How can you look so… fine?" Karin exclaimed indignantly, genuinely expecting the girl to at least look a little battered.

"Erm, because I am fine?" Sakura answered uncertainly, not quite sure what they were expecting of her.

Suigetsu shook his head in amazement. "Pinky you just waltzed into Sasuke's training session and returned alive. What the hell did you do?" his eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion "Did you poison him or something?"

"What? No!" Sakura jerked back at the accusation "I'm not that kind of person!"

'_Although you did poison Kajiura,' _a snide voice hissed in her head. She told herself that was entirely different. She had left Sasuke to ruminate over the information bombshell she had given him, he needed time to think. Guiltily, she recalled their conversation. How would he ever react if he found out that she had purposely sought out Itachi to heal him? She tried to console herself, saying that Sasuke didn't even know the true circumstances of his clan's massacre and if (_'when'_ she determinedly told herself in her mind) he did he would certainly understand why she had done what she had done. But for now she let him believe Itachi had forced her.

For a few moments, she wondered if that was the right thing to do, yet what else could she say without revealing what truly happened to the Uchihas? And what happened to the Uchihas was not her secret to tell, it would be Itachi's decision alone should he ever decide that Sasuke needed to know. She sincerely hoped he would. Besides she thought Sasuke's mind might explode if he found out any more shocking revelations that day.

-0-

Sasuke wasn't training. In fact he wasn't doing anything much, just standing and quaking head to toe. He wished he had never heard of Sakura collecting that fateful medical file, he wished he had never ever pursued her. He wished that this was all a dream, his discoveries non-existent, so he could continue his vengeful way without knowing any of it. Itachi was sick? He didn't want to know! Sakura had healed him? God, he wished he'd shut his ears and never, never suspected it. He wished that he had just took her word for it when she had said someone healed his brother and never let his perceptive mind race. He didn't want to hear, didn't want to know, didn't want to question. He wanted to scream like he had the night his clan died, he wanted to run from it all and escape it, and he wanted to deny absolutely everything he had found out. And he couldn't, which was the most maddening part of it.

Sweat trickled down his nape. '_Deny, deny, deny' _his mind hissed conspiratorially at him _'You don't have to believe in this. You don't have to trust her.' _For a moment he seriously considered the easy way out – a sudden surge of murderous intent burned through him for Sakura. After all it was all her fault, all her fault for knowing and delivering something he didn't want to know. His hands shook as he felt the sudden desire to crush her neck. A stone he held in his hand turned to dust.

He realised what he was thinking. Horror and disgust heaved in his heart, the grotesque image of Sakura at his mercy, Sakura dead by his hands made him feel strangely ill.

He knew he was a wreck. Suddenly dread crept up, the image of Sakura dead by his hand morphed into Sakura dead by Itachi's hands… she did say he forced her, didn't she? Sickening nausea swept through him at the thought of what Itachi could do to her… what could have been so bad that she actually agreed. Tsukiyomi? Physical torture? Sakura turned into the twelve year old girl he always had to protect, out on her own and trembling in fear whilst Itachi laughed like the madman he was.

The urge to vomit grew in him, bile rising in his throat. He swallowed it and, feeling far too shaken to remain standing, collapsed on to the floor.

If only he could stop trembling. Another alarming thought struck him, what if Sakura hadn't? How could he claim surpassing Itachi if he only fought him in his weakened state? But then, a voice argued, he would have never known. Somewhere, his strained mind truly acknowledged the weight of the age old adage 'Ignorance is bliss'.

Yet no matter how he wrapped his head around it, it felt that had Itachi been ill he could have never avenged his clan properly. He desperately needed to defeat Itachi, defeat him in the same state he was when he left Sasuke the lone survivor of Uchiha clan.

His thoughts contradicted each other. He was disgusted by the act of Sakura healing Itachi yet knew that he could not claim victory against a weakened Itachi. And try as he might, he could not clear his mind, his thoughts gradually growing more confused and warped. Nothing seemed so straightforward anymore.

-0-

Tsunade glanced at the mission report once more, as if continuously looking it would somehow change its contents. She wished it would. This one report contained information that could fast develop into becoming a domestic crisis if it wasn't handled properly. And after that, it could rapidly become a diplomatic relations disaster. She took another sip of her sake.

Out of every single person in Konoha she'd expected trouble to come out of, Sakura didn't even merit a place on the list. That's why she was the one sent out on this mission; she was the one least likely to offend anyone or pull off any dangerous, attention grabbing stunts. Such as claiming Uchiha Itachi was her lover! Uchiha frickin' Itachi for Pete's sake! And perhaps even that would have been understandable had she not somehow got hold of Itachi's slashed headband, according to Ino's report. Perhaps even that was a farce, an innkeeper probably wouldn't be able to recognise the difference between a real and a fake but that wouldn't explain why Uchiha Itachi himself slipped in the inn to pay a visit. Her blood suddenly ran cold. Perhaps Uchiha Itachi had entered to deal with his apparent 'lover'. There she was, worrying about what kind of domestic crisis could unfold whilst one of her shinobi could very well be dead. Or have been abducted and held at the mercy of an organisation that had no qualms about killing people.

Somewhere in her troubled mind, a stray thought floated in. Itachi was terminally ill. She remembered the day he was brought to her at the young age of five by his concerned mother so very well. Although having been 'one of the most gifted medics of the age', she had been young (perhaps not in age but in mindset) and her skills rusty due to depression. It had been a hard year. She hadn't gotten over the death of Dan and hadn't done anything remotely related to healing since. But she had been intrigued by the desperate request of Mikoto Uchiha, and had wanted to finally see who the rather famous young child of the Uchihas actually was.

She remembered his piercing, intelligent eyes – far too shrewd for a six year old. He knew her name; of course he did, being the famed child prodigy. His steady, unfaltering gaze had been more than slightly disturbing, he was neither bratty nor scared as other six year olds tended to be but even more collected than her. He looked so detached, so world-weary – as if he had already seen the worst of the world. He had sat as still as a statue as she examined him, making not a sound. Even as she had delivered the sad diagnosis, at which Mikoto looked close to tears, he had merely said 'Arigatou' as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Turning to his shaking mother whose grip on a barely two year old Sasuke seemed uncertain; he simply lifted Sasuke out of her arms and held him. Sasuke gave a thrilled giggle, mouthing 'Nii-chan!' in his babyish undeveloped voice. Only then had she seen any display of emotion from Itachi, a warm smile playing on his lips and a little chuckle.

The memory was ridiculously vivid, even now. At first she had tried to think nothing of it, telling herself that he was six and didn't understand what was going on. But inside her, she knew he had understood every single word, even then. And then it struck her. Itachi must have wanted Sakura to heal him. It made sense; he wouldn't want to be weakened by his debilitating illness and saw a golden opportunity in a talented medic being without protection. But even Sakura… even Sakura couldn't possibly heal something so complex, could she? What would be his reaction?

"Shizune!" she called out.

The black haired woman rushed to her side immediately.

"We need to assemble a search party for Haruno Sakura. Make sure this mission remains secret and word does not get out to anyone. Oh and include Naruto. Far better be it him under supervision rather than sneaking out and doing something rash on his own. And Ino because she has good information. Full squad is to assemble in here within an hour for their briefing. Don't tell them anything yet, we have to make sure this doesn't spread."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Shizune said then hurried out with a gathering sense of urgency.

The first person Shizune sought out was Naruto, deciding to get the compulsory people out of the way first then try to find other suitable people. He sat at Ichiraku Ramen, eagerly slurping some down. She tapped his shoulder.

"Eh?" he turned to her confusedly.

"Top secret, important mission. Get ready and be at the Hokage's tower in an hour's time," she whispered then left in search of Ino.

Once told of a mission, Ino's eyes widened then she rushed back into her home to get packed.

That was two down. Shizune assumed the Hokage would like four or five in total so that meant she had to find two to three more trustworthy people. She really hoped Kakashi was available.

He was, his nose stuck in an Icha Icha book as per usual.

Not wasting time in scolding him or pulling him away from the book, she simply relayed the message she had already relayed to both Naruto and Ino with an additional 'don't be late'. She didn't wait for a response, she knew he had heard.

That left one more. Because of the nature of this mission she knew it had to be someone who had faith in Sakura and could keep a secret well (although in the team there were already two blabbermouths so precaution at that point could be seen as rather unnecessary). She wracked her brains for someone before coming up with Hyuuga Neji. She raced to the Hyuuga Compound, praying that she would be excused from time consuming, stiff formalities. Her prayers were answered as he noticed her from behind the intimidating gate. He opened it and she quickly relayed the information.

Thirty minutes later the squad of sorts assembled in the Hokage tower, all curious as to what the mysterious mission might be.

Tsunade ran her eyes over them once critically. "Grab Nara Shikamaru, won't you?" He's currently deciphering codes in a lower office."

Shizune nodded and whizzed down the stairs. A minute later, Shikamaru lazily walked in muttering "Troublesome,"

The female Hokage's eyes flashed angrily at him.

"Right, you lot" she barked authoritatively. Noticing more than one of their number slouching she threateningly added "Straighten up and take this seriously!"

"Hai, hai baa-chan," Naruto said, still with his hands casually on the back of his head and leaning against the wall.

"You brat!" she growled "Do you want to be excluded from this mission?"

Immediately he straightened. Neji gave the smallest hint of a smirk.

"Now that we've all decided to behave like adults," she began again "Let's get down to this mission."

"Haruno Sakura," Tsunade hesitated, how much information should she tell them? She didn't want to plant distrust in them so soon yet they'd inevitably find out about the rumours anyway "Has interesting rumours circulating around her."

Ino at once knew what those 'rumours' were.

"You are to find her to either confirm or disprove these rumours with a completed report signed by her. If evidence is lacking she is to be brought back to the village."

"Hokage-sama," Neji cut in "What are these rumours?"

Tsunade took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Rumours say she's Uchiha Itachi's lover."

Shikamaru jumped out of his nonchalant pose, looking alarmed. Naruto looked as if his face and the floor were about to become intimate acquaintances. Kakashi dropped his Icha Icha book.

Neji, not quite willing to believe it, spluttered in the most dignified way possible "I beg your pardon?"

Throughout all this, Ino stayed perfectly still and calm. Shikamaru threw her a suspicious sideways glance, wondering why she hadn't displayed any reaction.

"Do we know her location, Hokage-sama?" Neji inquired.

"Not specifically. I'm afraid you'll have to start from scratch. Leave now and you better find her!" Tsunade practically hollered the last words, unwilling to contemplate the consequences if the assembled team didn't.


End file.
